The Adventures of the STREKS Gang
by S. Chensu and Luff
Summary: The group find Shadow and settle down to a life of school and boredom in general. But what happens when a new threat arises? The epilogue is now up!
1. And this is just the beginning

Hi, we're S. Chensu and Luff and this is our Sonic fan fiction. We've been working on this for some time and so we decided to put it up and see what others make of it. We don't know much about the Sonic games, we're more Nintendo people but we do have Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and Sonic Adventure DX. So if there are any mistakes regarding characters then we apologise (Note from Luff: We also have Sonic Advance and Sonic Advance 2, but they don't really count).

Reviews are quite welcome and we should be able to update every week and a half to two. If it's longer it'll be because of school.

This fan fiction is based after the ending of Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. It starts with the journey of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Rouge as they search for Shadow… (In case you're wondering Eggman is looking for a house)

They're called 'STREKS' because of this:

**S**onic

**T**ails

**R**ouge

**E**ggman

**K**nuckles

**S**hadow

Clever eh?

Disclaimer: We do not own the characters, they are owned by the Sonic team. The only thing we own is the story. 

Now the introduction is done with it's onto the story!

Episode one: And this is just the beginning… 

"Sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog." Sonic said sadly, staring at the bottomless space below them.

"He can't really be dead, can he?" Tails asked, wonder how someone as strong as Shadow could fall, when Sonic was still alive and unscarred…

"He can't have survived, he used up all of his energy using Chaos Control. No way he could have." Sonic sighed, not wanting to speak the truth.

"How could you speak so negatively?" Rouge demanded, shocked at the way Sonic was talking.

"Yeah, I mean, he only just got hurtled towards Earth, of course he could have survived." Sonic said sarcastically, the bitterness of what had happened obvious in his voice.

"Well he is the ultimate life form supposedly. People are always full of surprises." Knuckles argued, trying to keep the group calm and balanced. He hated imbalance, it messed with his senses.

Suddenly the room became so dark that no one could see anything and there were gasps and exclamations from all. In the middle an image appeared, a black and red blurry figure lying amongst brown, unmoving and silent.

"Oh my God, it's Shadow!" Everyone heard Eggman announce and now there was a name, they crept closer to the vision, waiting for something else to happen. They saw his eyes flicker open and cloud in agony as he tried to stand, falling onto his knees before sinking onto the ground once more. But then the image was gone, the lights bursting on and blinding everyone for a moment as they tried to get use to it.

"That was strange." Tails commented, his words causing everyone to stare at him in disbelief.

"Don't you realise what this means? Shadow must be alive! Quick, we have to find him!" Rouge started to trot towards the door but Knuckles grabbed her by the arm. They stared at each other for a few seconds before they both blushed and looked away.

"Rushing into this won't help, we need a plan." He mumbled. Tails understanding what was happening, rescued Knuckles from the situation.

"Yes, I agree. We should find somewhere to live and then look around until we find him. Once we find him, we'll bring him back and look after him until he recovers. After that, I'm not sure what we'll do but for the moment we don't have to worry about it." Tails suggested.

"Now that is a good idea, but there is just one small problem." Eggman piped up. "I'm a wanted criminal. After all I did threaten to blow up the world and take it over." He looked a little sheepish at admitting what was blindingly obvious to the others.

"We'll just have to get you a disguise then. I can sort that out easily." Rouge replied. She walked over to the computer and after a few moments, she was connected to the Internet. "Which colour do you prefer: blue or red?" She asked, still looking at the screen.

"Red of course." Eggman answered.

"Blue it is then." She smiled sweetly at him as /he/ went red himself. "Never trust a man's opinion when it comes to clothes is what I always say." She clicked the mouse button a few times before turning back to them. "Right, all we have to do now is go down, pick up the clothes and maybe give you a hair cut as well…" The others followed her as she walked towards the shuttle. They entered it but this time Tails took to the controls.

"I don't trust you two with machines, you try to destroy them."

"What do you mean? I was doing fine until that little accident with the meteor…" Sonic stumbled.

"And I wouldn't have tried to crash the thing if /_he/_ hadn't caused the pieces of Master Emerald to float into space…" Knuckles added. The two of them glared at each other before Eggman tried to distract them.

"Calm down, you two. Let's get this over and done with as quickly as possible." They sat down and Tails programmed the shuttle to head for England.

While the others stayed on the ship, Rouge flew down to London. She picked up the clothes and then bought some scissors. She dashed back to the shuttle and put the stuff down in its bags on the floor.

"Now then, you take these and put them on. I just hope that the size is right." She pointed to the bags and Eggman took them, looking suspiciously at the contents. "Naughty, don't look until you change into them." Eggman walked off and she smiled to herself.

"Um Rouge…what size did you get, just out of interest?" Tails asked cautiously.

"That's my little secret, but I'm sure we will hear soon enough…" She cocked her head and true to her words they heard Eggman shout out,

"Size eighteen, why you cheeky little rat with wings, I'm not that big! How dare you insult me?" Rouge grinned and so did the others. Tails got into such hysterics that he was rolling around the floor in a fit of giggles. He stopped though as soon as he heard Eggman walking back. He stood up and hid behind Sonic in case he got an attack of the giggles again.

Eggman stood in front of them and even Sonic had to admit that Rouge had chosen well. He did not look too bad. The clothes, consisting of a loose blue shirt and comfortable black jeans, were a bit baggy but not overly. Although his clothes were relaxed, Eggman clearly wasn't.

"Oh come on Eggman, they don't look that bad. It makes a nice change." Sonic commented and at that Eggman relaxed a bit. Rouge stepped forward.

"Now all we have to do it give you a hair cut." She brandished the pair of scissors in front of her and Eggman backed away.

"Don't you dare, I've spent years trying to grow this." He stroked his moustache nervously while Rouge sighed.

"Come on, that moustache is one of your most recognisable features, you'll get spotted straight away if you don't get rid of it." Eggman looked resigned.

"Oh all right but be careful, I don't want my nose being hacked to pieces as well." He sat down and Rouge went to the task of cutting his huge, ginger moustache. When the others tried to look though, she shooed them away so they went and sat down together.

"He he he, he's going to look so stupid!" Tails giggled but was met with a glare from Knuckles.

"Come on, you have to feel a bit sorry for him, I mean he's a size eighteen! How embarrassing! And how would you like it if someone chopped off your hair?" Knuckles stared at him.

"Oh, I suppose you're right. I just want to get onto finding Shadow, I hope he's all right…" Tails looked out of the window to where Shadow had fallen. Wanting to cheer him up, Sonic put his arm around his shoulder.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, after all we wouldn't have seen that image if there was no hope of finding him again. But still…" Sonic paused for a moment. "Size eighteen, we'd probably be able to fit all three of us in his shirt!" He laughed and Tails grinned. Even Knuckles had to smile slightly but he quickly stopped when he realised what he was doing.

"Ok guys, you can come and see my masterpiece now!" The others jumped up and Rouge stood back. Eggman was patting his face with his hands but Rouge grabbed them and forced them to his side.

Now that his famous moustache had gone, Eggman looked like a completely different person. The three of them smiled encouragingly at him and yet again he relaxed. Suddenly he became businesslike.

"Right let's get to work. We will have to hurry if we're going to find Shadow, so you four start looking while I find us a place to live. Any particular areas?" The others thought about his question.

"I think we should live in London. It's got great shops and it's very classy." Rouge suggested.

"What about you three?" Eggman asked.

"I don't mind to be honest, I just want to find Shadow." Sonic said. The others shrugged their shoulders and Eggman clapped his hands.

"London it is. I'll go and find a nice apartment and get the place furnished while you go and look for Shadow." Rouge interrupted him.

"/_You're/_ going to get the place furnished? I think I'll do the furnishing." She took out a notepad and pencil and wrote something down. She ripped out the page and gave it to Eggman. "Go to this place and ask for Jade. Tell her I sent you, she knows what I like. She'll help you find some nice things." Eggman folded the piece of paper and put it into his shirt pocket before walking to his machine and jumping into it.

"I'll go now. Tails, I trust you to think of suitable places to look for Shadow. Knuckles, Rouge and Sonic I want you to listen to what he has to say, ok?" They nodded their heads and Eggman threw four communicators to them. "I'll contact you on these. See you later." And with that he flew away.

Tails sat down at a computer and brought up a map of the world, looking at it for a moment before turning back to the others.

"Can you sense anything, Knuckles?" He asked. Knuckles closed his eyes, trying to reach out for traces of Chaos Emerald activity.

"No, I'm not really sure what I'm meant to look for though."

"Well, I'm hoping that the last Chaos Control he used left a mark on him which you could tune into." Tails explained. Knuckles tried again.

"No, I still can't sense him. I need to be closer to Earth." Tails pointed to the map.

"I thought we could go to one country in each continent and then maybe you'll be able to sense him better." Sonic's face lit up at Tails' genius.

"That's a great idea! Now what do we do?" Tails tapped a few keys and the map was split into seven colours.

"Each colour represents a continent. There are seven continents in total so we need to look in seven countries. Can you think of any?" Tails asked.

"Can you bring up each continent with the countries labelled?" In response to the question Tails tapped a few more keys. Europe came up and there were the countries on the screen. Rouge leaned closer at the image to look at it better.

"How about Italy? I've always wanted to go there, it's so romantic." Her eyes flickered to Knuckles, which only Tails noticed, and he understood what she was trying to do.

"I like the sound of that. I've always wanted to eat some proper Italian pizza and ice cream. Is that all right with you two?" He turned to Sonic and Knuckles.

"Yeah that sounds all right. Now then, what about Africa?" Knuckles questioned. Africa came up and Knuckles pointed to Egypt. "Can we go to Egypt? I've wanted to see the pyramids for some time."

"That's funny because I'm fed up of them! I've had enough of sand and pyramids." Sonic commented but seeing Knuckles' crestfallen face he added. "But I think we should go, after all, maybe it would be nice." Knuckles smiled at Sonic and thanked him. "I want to go to Brazil! After going through the Green Forest, I think that jungles are great!" Tails put Brazil up on the screen.

"Great, that's in South America! Only four more continents left to go." He put the four continents on the screen.

"Why don't you choose somewhere Tails? After all, we've all chosen one." Rouge suggested.

"Ok." Tails thought for a moment before his eyes lit up. "Let's go to Japan! They have the best technology there and /so/ many robots!" Asia disappeared and now only Antarctica, Australasia and North America were left on the screen. "Well there is only one country in Antarctica and that's-"

"Antarctica, by an chance?" Sonic interrupted, causing Tails to smile sheepishly.

"Yeah. The biggest country in Australasia is Australia so now it's just North America."

"I think we should go to Canada. It's bigger than all of those states so it's the obvious one to pick." Sonic suggested. The others nodded and Rouge wrote down the countries in her notepad.

"Where shall we go first?" She asked.

"I think Antarctica. We may as well get it over and done with. Is that all right with you three?" Sonic asked and they nodded their heads.

Tails shut the computer down and turned his communicator on.

"Eggman, are you there? Just to let you know we're going to Antarctica." A crackled reply came.

"Thank you Tails. I'm not doing too badly here; I've managed to find a couple of places. Anyway got to go, I'm just about to talk to an estate agent. Oh and by the way, if you're going to Antarctica look in the captain's cabin, there are some warm clothes there that you could use. Over and out." Tails put the communicator away.

"Does anyone know where the captain's cabin is?" He asked. Rouge walked to the door at the end of the room.

"Follow me, I know where it is." They set off after her and a few minutes later, they came to a room with a desk, bed and cupboard. Rouge opened the doors. True to Eggman's word, there were several suits of various shapes and sizes. Rouge picked out a pink one and put it on over the clothes she was already wearing (Note from S. Chensu: Which was not much). She also found a pair of earmuffs, and put them on. She turned to the others. "Hurry up you three, I'm boiling in this thing." They came to their senses and looked in the cupboard. Sonic found a blue suit and a pair of snowshoes, Knuckles had a red suit with goggles and Tails had an orange suit with furry gloves. They put them on and it wasn't long before they went red including Knuckles, if that was possible.

"Let's go…I'm…sweating…like a…pig!" Knuckles gasped. They set off as fast as they could in their snowsuits and they soon stood around the Tornado. Tails jumped into the machine and pressed a button. It changed some parts until a plane appeared. Unlike the plane before though, it had two parts which could hold four people (including the pilot). Sonic and Tails sat in the front part so Knuckles and Rouge had to sit in the other seat. While Rouge looked relaxed, Knuckles looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

"Come on Knuckles, don't be scared. There's more than enough room for the both of us." She patted the seat and winked at him. He swallowed hard and sat next to her, blushing a wonderful shade of molten red. Sonic was too busy putting his seatbelt on to notice this but Tails, who already had his on, saw the whole thing. A plan formed in his head, which although he could not put into effect now, would be perfect for later on…

"Everyone ready?" He shouted. They nodded and he started the engine. He reached the button to open the door and it slid away to reveal the Earth below them.

They flew down to Earth, heading for Antarctica and a couple of hours later, in which no one really said anything as they were too buried within their own thoughts, they landed in Antarctica.

S. Chensu: Well that's episode one done. Sorry it's a bit short but the next few are longer compared to this. And no, some things here don't make sense but you have to ignore those bits. Anyway, read and review but no flames until you've read a bit more please. Then you may print this off and burn it as much as you like.


	2. The hot, the cold and the dowright silly

S. Chensu: Hello people, we've updated! This episode is the start of the search for Shadow and you'll meet some characters you might recognise. If you don't want to know who they are yet, I suggest you don't read the disclaimer…

Luff: Stop giving the plot away! And why is it you never let me talk?

S. Chensu: Because I'm the older one! (Look at profile for further info on us). Strokes chin in thoughtful way for a few moments before clicking fingers. I know, you can read the disclaimer!

Luff: Oh, you're /_so/_ generous…

S. Chensu: I know!

Luff: Sighs as she produces piece of paper with /way/ too much writing on it. Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters in this story i.e. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow and Eggman (They're owned by Sonic Team). For this episode, we do not own Polar Bears, Topis, Popo, Nana, DK (owned by Nintendo) and Banjo and Kazooie (Rareware). We also don't own Alice in Wonderland (C.S. Lewis does, although he is dead…) and the song "Just a little" (Liberty X do, although I thought it was a cover…)

**However!**

We do own our version of the Queen of Hearts (Not the name, again C.S. Lewis), as she's an ape. Now that I've read it out properly this time, I'm not going to again!

S. Chensu: As an afterthought we do own the story… Also note the title. Like it? Influenced by the Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Luff: We don't own that either!), a great film in my opinion! Especially the bit where… Continues going down memory lane

Luff: While she's busy, let's get the show on the road! Sits down with big box of popcorn in hands.

This episode is dedicated to our two reviewers Yersi Fanel and RI2. I hope they're both spelt right.

(Note: Thoughts or lyrics, /emphasis/)

**Episode two: The hot, the cold and the downright silly…**

Deciding to wake everyone up from their thinking, Tails banged the plane down onto the ground and everyone jumped to attention. He smiled sweetly, trying to act innocent.

"Right everyone awake? Let's go and get this done as soon as possible, I don't want to get frostbite." He lowered himself down onto the ground and the others followed suit. Although it was summer, that didn't stop it from being cold so everyone put their extras on. Knuckles was very glad because he didn't have to make eye contact with Rouge then, which was making him blush very badly.

"I have to tell her about my feelings, I don't care how she feels about me." He whispered to himself and he walked over to where the others were. Sonic turned to him.

"Can you sense anything Knuckles?" Knuckles closed his eyes and he did what he did best. He connected himself to the surroundings and asked it if anything strange had been happening. But the signs were all negative and he opened his eyes. He shook his head but suddenly he felt something.

"Something's here but I can't tell what it is…" The others looked hopefully at him. "It's not Shadow but…whatever it is might be able to help us." Sonic started jogging on the spot.

"Shall I have a look around?" Rouge raised an eyebrow.

"With tennis rackets on your feet?" Sonic stopped and looked down.

"I had better take them off then." He put his trainers back on. "I'll contact you via the walkie talkies." And with that he sped off into the horizon.

"Shall we do the same as well?" Tails asked. The others nodded and they flew off in different directions.

Rouge flew around but nothing appeared and she sighed, landing on the ground in her boredom.

"There must be something around here somewhere." Sighing, she looked around and saw a cave. Deciding that she may as well do something, she walked over to it. Peering in, she saw that it was dark and so being cautious, she entered the cave. But before she had even gone one step something hit her on the head. She just had enough time to shout out before her world turned to blackness…

"Arrrgh!" All three of them heard the shout at the same time.

"Guys, did you hear that? It sounds like Rouge is in trouble!" Knuckles called over on the walkie-talkies.

"Which direction did she go in?" Sonic asked.

"She went south." Tails replied. "Ok if we all go back to where we were standing together, we can go from there." Everyone ran back to where the Tornado was standing.

"Right, south is this way." Knuckles headed south and the others followed him. They went slowly though because Rouge had flown for most of the way and so hadn't left any tracks. Knuckles had to keep checking that they were still going south and they were all getting tired when they finally saw tracks.

"At last, some tracks, now we can go faster." Sonic went to speed off when Tails grabbed his arm.

"Doing that will lead us straight into whatever got her. We won't help if it hurts us as well. Let's go about this a bit more slowly." He walked gradually forward and the others followed him. They soon found the entrance of the cave and Rouge's walkie-talkie!

"How are we going to find her in here?" Tails cried out when he saw how dark it was.

"Follow me, this should be a breeze." Knuckles commanded and he grabbed Sonic's arm. "Sonic you should hold onto Tails so we don't lose each other." He headed in, his eyes glowing an eerie white. He turned back to see if the others were ok.

"Oh don't do that Knuckles, you're giving me the creeps." Tails whined. Knuckles turned around again and carried on until they reached a fork.

"Why have we stopped Knuckles?" Sonic asked.

"We've come to a fork. Give me a moment, I'll see if I can find any tracks." He bent down and looked closely at the ground.

"Lucky old you Knuckles. I can't see anything at all, let alone any tracks." Tails laughed. Knuckles then found that the dirt had been scrapped in one direction and was almost definitely the sign of something being dragged along the ground. It could only be Rouge.

"Ok guys, I think I've found the way." He took the left fork and they travelled again in silence until they saw a silvery light at the end of the tunnel. They headed for the light and grew more confident in their footing until it became obvious that they had to slow down or risk exhausting themselves. Especially as the end of the tunnel didn't seem to be nearby.

"Where am I?" Rouge groaned as she woke up. She felt bruised everywhere and when she tried to move she saw that she was tied to a rock. "What's going on here?" She called out, in the hope of getting a response from her kidnapper. She was disappointed when no reply came and she resigned herself to looking at her surroundings.

She was in a cave and the light was coming from glowing icicles hanging around the room. They glittered in the light and her eyes widened in delight. She rapidly became horrified though when she saw pools of blood dotted throughout the room and a trail of it leading towards her. Looking at an icicle she saw she had a cut in her head. The blood had dried now luckily but it was matted in her fur.

"Oh dear, it's gonna take ages to wash this out. Oh what I would do for some shampoo and conditioner…" She complained. Just then, the ground started shaking and she looked around in fright. From the shadows emerged a huge polar bear with sunglasses and pink shorts on!

"So you're awake at last. Now you can tell me where your little brat of a brother is! You don't realise what damage you did to me in Icicle Mountain!" Rouge realised that the polar bear thought she was someone else. She decided to play it safe and not say anything. "Not talking eh? Well I'll just have to force the answers out of you then!" He walked forward and picked up the rock she was attached to. "Hmm…you've certainly changed since we last met Nana!" He frowned, put her right by his eyes and took his sunglasses off. She attempted to stare at him but his eyes were like pools of ice. "Wait a minute, you're not Nana! So who are you?" Instead of calming down as Rouge expected he grew angrier. "That means you're trespassing! And do you know what I do to trespassers?" Rouge shook her head. "I play with them and then destroy them! I would play with you but I had enough fun dragging you along the ground and hitting your head on stones!" Rouge winced as she found out what had happened to her when she was knocked out. "Any last words before you die?"

"Yeah, just you wait until Knuckles finds you! He'll kill you, no problem!" She kicked out her foot and hit him in the eye. All he did was blink though so she closed her eyes and prepared herself for the worst but it never came. Instead she was dropped and her body jarred as she landed on the ground.

"So there's someone else around here eh? I'll have to find them too and kill them!" And with that, the bear stomped off.

"Oh what have I done? I hope Knuckles and the others will be all right…" She sighed and tried to wriggle free of her bonds. They had loosened but she didn't have enough room to slip under them. She looked around and saw she had landed by some icicles. She stretched as far as she could and started rubbing her bonds against the sharp edge of the lump of ice. As she did so, she wondered why Knuckles' name came first into her head. _It's not like I have any preference towards him._ But her mind told her she was wrong. _All right, so maybe I do like him a little… Okay, a lot then!_

She had soon broken the ropes that tied her wrists and set about untying the rest of the rope. With that done she stretched and walked around.

"Well I may as well do some exploring while I wait for that monster to come back."

"Sonic, can we stop for a minute? I'm really tired." Tails asked.

"We can't, Rouge might be in trouble." Sonic replied but Knuckles interrupted, knowing that Tails was right.

"Tails has a point. Plus we'll need a plan, we can't just storm in there." Sonic sighed.

"Oh all right. Let's stop here, we should be ok." Sonic agreed and he sat down. The others followed him and Tails relaxed himself against the wall.

The polar bear had been following them but when they stopped, he couldn't see them. His eye was itching like mad now and it was starting to swell up. If it kept going like this, he wouldn't be able to see! He grabbed blindly in the dark and picked up Tails.

"Aaaahhhh, help me!" Tails yelled out and the bear laughed.

"I have you at last Knuckles, do you think you could escape the might of Dipstick?" Sonic nudged Knuckles.

"Did he just call Tails you?" He asked, confused.

"It would seem so. We had better make sure we're not seen by it though." Knuckles replied. So while Tails was carried to the cave, Knuckles and Sonic followed making sure they stayed in the shadows.

When they entered the cave they heard Dipstick shout,

"I found your boyfriend little rat!" He threw Tails down by Rouge and Knuckles went magenta at the thought of him being Rouge's boyfriend. Rouge picked Tails and held him up.

"Tails are you ok? Why does he think you're Knuckles?" Rouge asked.

"When he grabbed me, he must have just assumed I was Knuckles. I have an idea of how to get out but we have to make sure that Knuckles doesn't try to show himself." Tails explained and Rouge thought about this.

"Well why don't you contact them on one of their walkie-talkies?" She suggested and Tails turned his on.

"That's a great idea! Sonic, Knuckles are you there?"

"Tails, you're all right! I was so worried there." Sonic replied.

"Yeah I'm fine, both of us are. Anyway, I have a plan. Whatever you do, don't let Knuckles tell Dipstick who he is! When I tell you to, I want you and Knuckles to attack him, ok?" Tails explained hurriedly.

"Ok, but how are we meant to attack him?" Sonic asked.

"Hit him in his eyes. You already have a head start because it seems that Rouge has attacked him there as well." Just then, the polar bear leant down to grab him. "Got to go!"

He dropped the walkie-talkie, which Rouge picked up and turned off. She then watched as Dipstick swung Tails around the room, hitting his head against the icicles around the edge of it. He let go and Tails flew through the air, eventually hitting one of the walls and slumping to the ground.

"Ta-Knuckles!" Rouge screamed and raced towards him. It took all of Knuckles' effort to stop Sonic from running to him too.

"We still have to do our part, remember?" Knuckles told him. Sonic stopped struggling and sat down.

"Yeah, but how are we gonna be able to tell when we're meant to attack him if Tails is knocked out?" Knuckles frowned.

"I don't know actually. We will know though, one way or another." Rouge was shaking Tails, trying to wake him.

"Tails please wake up, please…" She stopped and started crying. Because of this, she didn't notice Tails open his eyes.

"Rouge I'm all right, I'm awake now. I just wish, you hadn't shaken me so hard…I hurt all over." He groaned and she stopped crying.

"You're awake! What are you going to do now?" Rouge asked.

"I'm going to wait for him to pick me up again and at the right moment, you fly up and grab me and Knuckles and Sonic attack him. You must wait before you get me ok?" Tails stared at Rouge.

"Ok Tails, whatever you say. Quick, he's coming again!" Rouge called out.

Tails winced as he was grabbed and lifted into the air. Before any of them realised it though, Dipstick lifted Tail to his mouth and opened it.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Screamed Tails and Rouge took that as a cue.

"Sonic, Knuckles, as soon as I've got Tails, you attack him ok?" Rouge shouted into Tails' walkie-talkie before taking off into the air.

She flew as fast as she could and managed to grab Tails just as he was falling into Dipstick's mouth. She turned a sharp corner and flew back down to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Knuckles and Sonic jump forward to attack Dipstick. She laid Tails down on the ground.

"Thanks Rouge for saving my life even when I told you not to move until I said so." He whispered.

"Of course I wasn't just gonna let that thing eat you. I'm not that cruel." She sighed. She looked at Sonic and Knuckles who were attacking his face but not doing much. Seeing where Rouge was looking Tails asked,

"How are they doing?" Rouge smiled tightly.

"They're doing fine, don't you worry." But she thought to herself. _It's going to take a miracle for them to win._

Just then they heard a huge crash and something flew into the room. Or rather two things. They were both small and wore Eskimo suits. One was pink and the other was blue and they both carried hammers. They walked up to the polar bear and shouted in surprisingly loud voices,

"Oy Dipstick! Leave them alone and fight us like you wanted to!" Dipstick batted Sonic and Knuckles away and Knuckles quickly glided while Sonic hung onto his legs. They skidded to a stop a short distance away from where Rouge and Tails were. They walked over and stood together as the Eskimos attacked Dipstick. Occasionally they shouted out 'Squall hammer', 'Blizzard' and 'Belay' and it wasn't long before Dipstick had been mashed to a pulp. He ran away and as he did so, he shouted,

"I'll get you one day Ice Climbers!" And with that, he disappeared.

The Ice Climbers landed and walked over to the group.

"Hello, who are you? We're the Ice Climbers. I'm Popo and this is my sister Nana." The one in the blue suit said.

"Hi, I'm Sonic, and these are my friends, Tails, Knuckles and Rouge." Sonic answered, pointing to himself and the others in turn. "Um, this may sound strange but what was all that about?"

"Oh you mean us beating up Dipstick? He's always threatening to destroy Antarctica so we have to keep him under control. We saw what he did to your friends Tails and Rouge, are they ok?" Nana asked, looking round at them.

"We're all right I think but how did you know about us?" Tails asked.

"Topi told us. He's a spy who stays here and tells us whenever anything happens." Popo replied. "Topi come and say hello." He called out and from behind a rock appeared a white fluffy creature. It was small and round with a beak. He came over and waved shyly.

"Anyway, I think we need to tend to your friends. Come with us to our hut."

Nana and Popo led them out of the cave and around the side of the mountain to a small wooden house. They entered it and others crowded in behind him.

"Right you two, sit on the bed there and we'll get some bandages for those cuts." Tails and Rouge sat on the bed and a few minutes later, Popo came back with a first aid kit. He placed it on the table and Sonic and Knuckles sat on the two chairs. Nana took a bottle of antiseptic spray and a bandage. She stood in front of Rouge.

"Sorry if this hurts but it's to make sure your cut doesn't become infected." She sprayed a small amount into the wound and while Rouge slightly winced, she wrapped the bandage around her head. Meanwhile Popo was dealing with Tails.

"Ok, where does it hurt?" He asked.

"My head hurts a lot and I think I've done something to my wrist." Tails held his wrist delicately and Popo took it gently. He pressed the wrist a couple of times and watched Tails' reaction.

"It feels like you've just sprained your wrist. Just make sure you don't put any pressure on it." Popo told him. He wrapped the wrist up and sprayed his head wounds with antiseptic.

"Ow, that hurts!" Tails cried out. Popo looked apologetic.

"Sorry about that. I'm done now." He quickly put the bandages on and stood back. "What do you think?" He asked holding out a mirror. Tails looked at himself and gasped. He didn't realise quite how many scratches and bruises he had on his head.

"Ugh, I look awful! I hope these heal quickly!" He closed his eyes and opened them quickly again. They were still there. "All well, it was worth a try!" He sighed. Rouge then looked into the mirror.

"At least the dry blood is covered up." She said and then stood up. "Right shall we go then?" The Ice Climbers shook their heads.

"You may have got concussion, after all you were whacked around a fair bit. You would feel a lot better after having a night of rest and Tails' wrist should heal as well." Popo explained. Sonic shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't suppose it would hurt to stay the night. But where are we going to sleep?" He asked.

"Two of you can sleep in these two beds here and if you come through here…" They pushed a door open and there were another two beds. "Two of you can sleep here. That's everyone isn't it?" Nana asked.

"Yeah but where you will sleep? I don't want you to sleep on the floor or anything…" Tails asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, we have a bunk bed that we sleep on." Popo replied.

"How come you have so many beds?" Knuckles asked.

"We look after people if they become injured. We're a bit like a hospital but we don't do operations or anything." Popo explained.

Nana walked to a door and entered what turned out to be the kitchen.

"So then, what does everyone want? We don't have much meat unfortunately because we're vegetarians but we do have some sausages and burgers." Nana clarified. "Any veggies here?"

"I would prefer vegetarian food if you have it." Knuckles admitted.

"I don't mind what I have to be honest I'm just hungry." Rouge said as her stomach rumbled. Nana looked in some cupboards.

"Hmm…we seem to have stocked up on soup recently. Ok, you have a choice of tomato soup, vegetable soup and pea soup. Popo, what will you be having?"

"I'll have tomato soup please." Popo answered.

"What will you four have?" Nana asked. They all thought for a moment.

"I'll have vegetable soup." Knuckles said. Sonic had the same, Tails had tomato soup and Rouge had pea soup. Rouge set the table and Sonic got the other chairs.

Soon, Nana and Popo came in bearing a tray with six bowls of soup on it. There was also a small basket with pieces of French bread stick in it. Everyone sat around the table and once everyone had their bowls and enough bread, they started eating.

"So then," Popo asked a few minutes into the dinner. "Why are you here?"

"We're looking for our friend Shadow. He fell to Earth but we don't know where he is." Sonic paused. "I don't suppose you've seen him have you?"

"We haven't had news of anyone around here for the last week. I'm sorry. If you want, we could ask the Topis if they have seen anything. What does this Shadow looks like?" Popo asked.

"He's black with red streaks in his spikes. He's a hedgehog as well." Rouge replied. Nana walked over to a cupboard and opened it. There was a screen and she turned it on. She seemed to be talking to some people and about ten minutes later, she came back again.

"No, no one has seen anyone of that description. Where will you look now?"

"Hmm, we could go to Brazil, it's the nearest country to here." Knuckles suggested.

"Well if you're going to Brazil, make sure you go to the Amazon rainforest and ask for an ape called DK. Tell him we sent you and he'll be happy to help." Nana sat back down and they finished their soup.

By now it was dark and the Ice Climbers told them they were going to bed.

"Wake us up before you go ok?" Popo asked.

"Of course we will." Tails replied. They disappeared and the four of them stood in the room.

"Ok, who's gonna sleep where?" Sonic asked. Tails suddenly had a thought. This would be the perfect time to start his plan so before anyone could say anything, he cleared his throat.

"Um Sonic, this may sound weird but could I sleep with you? Otherwise I'll be scared." Tails asked, putting on his young and innocent look. Sonic's face softened.

"Of course you can. But you've never been afraid of the dark before…you don't mind do you Knuckles and Rouge?" He asked.

"Of course we don't mind, do we Knuckles?" Rouge asked sweetly. Tails saw that Knuckles was looking very uncomfortable but he sighed.

"Whatever." Knuckles said offhand but he glared at Tails. "I'm gonna get you Tails for this." He growled and stormed off to the room.

"What's wrong with him?" Sonic asked confused.

"He's probably just tired that's all." Rouge said vaguely. "Anyway, goodnight you two." And with that she went to the other bedroom. Sonic and Tails got into their beds.

"Goodnight Tails."

"Night Sonic."

Meanwhile in the other room Knuckles and Rouge were sitting on their beds. They weren't saying anything to each other when Rouge came over and sat down next to Knuckles. He flinched when she sat down and she sighed.

"Knuckles are you ok? Every time I talk to you, you act like you hate me. Do you want to tell me something?" She asked. He looked up and stared at her. His brain was telling him to tell her but his mouth wouldn't obey.

"Um…eh…nothing. No, I'm just very sensitive to other people and their emotions that's all. I don't hate you in fact…" Tell her his mind was screaming. "You're not that bad." He ended with. She smiled.

"That's ok then. Well goodnight Knuckles." She went over to her bed and got into it.

"Night Rouge." He also got into bed and turned the light off.

"Thank you for letting us stay here Nana and Popo." Sonic said in the morning before they left.

"We're always happy to help others in need. Sorry again for not being able to help you in your search but if you ever see DK, he will be pleased to help you." Popo replied.

"Bye!" The group waved to Nana and Popo as they headed back to the Tornado. Tails noticed that Knuckles didn't appear to be quite so nervous now and knew that things in his plan were going well. They sat in the Tornado and it launched into the air.

"Tails, can we go back to the ARK first please? I don't think we're going to need these clothes for Brazil. Plus I really need a wash." Rouge asked.

"Yeah, we may as well. Let's go." And with that, Tails flew the Tornado to the ARK.

They landed and took their suits off. While Tails contacted Eggman, Rouge went about looking for a bathroom. She found one just as Eggman's reply came.

"Well you had better hurry then if you're going to find him. You say you're going to Brazil? Make sure you don't get bitten by insects then. I've managed to decide on one place but it will be some time before I can get it furnished. I have to go through all of the legal rigmarole first. Oh and say thank you to Rouge as well for the disguise. It's working like a treat! Over and out." Tails put the walkie-talkie down and walked over to where the others were standing.

"Right this way to the bathroom!" Rouge left the room with the others following her. They found the bathroom and they entered it, Rouge gasping as she took in everything.

"I've never seen a bathroom this big before! And look at these towels, they're so fluffy!" She exclaimed as she opened a cupboard full of dressing gowns, towels and washing stuff. She grabbed a towel, dressing gown and several bottles of shampoo, conditioner and shower gel. She even managed to find a loofah. "Well I'm ready, I'm not sure about you lot." But the others seemed embarrassed. She stared at them. "What? Why are you all staring at me like that?"

"Um…well…you're a girl Rouge." Sonic said.

"And?"

"Well, we're boys and we _are_ in a bathroom." Sonic explained. Rouge's eyes widened a bit.

"Oh…I see what you mean. For goodness sake, there are curtains and to be honest I don't care. I'm more concerned about being clean than about the fact you are boys."

She walked over to one of the baths and stood in it. She put the towel and dressing gown on a hook and pulled the curtain across the bath.

"She is right I suppose. But how am I gonna have a bath with my wrist?" Tails asked.

"Don't worry Tails, I'll help you." Sonic replied and with that they went to the other bath and got Tails ready. They then heard Rouge shout out,

"Can someone catch my clothes please as they come over the curtain?" Sonic and Tails looked at Knuckles.

"What? Why me? Why do I have to do it?" He asked accusingly but they just turned away and acted busy. He sighed to himself. "Ok Rouge I'll catch them."

"Oh thank you Knuckles." Just then her shoes flew over.

"Arrrgh!" Knuckles shouted as he tried to avoid and catch them at the same time.

"You ok there Knuckles?" Rouge shouted.

"Fine, fine." He replied. The clothes kept coming and soon Knuckles was actually quite embarrassed. And then came a bit, which nearly made him shout out in fright. Her knickers flew through the air and landed on his head! He did gasp though and Sonic and Tails looked at him as he tried to hold on to her clothes and take them off at the same time.

"Way hey Knuckles, you're getting in there!" Tails called out but Sonic shushed him.

"What's going on here?" Rouge poked her head around the curtain. "Oh…they look very nice Knuckles." She winked and disappeared again.

"I didn't…they…landed…" He stumbled.

"Whatever Knuckles." She replied lazily and turned the taps on. He quickly found a chair to put the clothes on and dropped the knickers on top of the pile as if they were poisoned. He turned around when he heard sniggering. Sonic and Tails instantly stopped laughing and tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably. He turned away in disgust and sat down on the floor. Just then he heard Rouge singing (Note from S. Chensu: This is Rouge's theme song!).

"Sexy, everything about you so sexy

You don't even know what you got

You're really hitting my spot, oh yeah, yeah." Knuckles had gone bright red and closed his eyes, praying that this wasn't real. The song continued though, much to Knuckles' distress.

"And you're so innocent

Please don't take this wrong 'cause it's a compliment

I just wanna get wit' your flow

You gotta learn to let go

Oh baby won't you…" Knuckles could hear Sonic and Tails snorting behind their hands and Knuckles was ready to run out of the room. It got worse though, much worse.

"Work it a little

Get hot just a little

Meet me in the middle

Let go just a little bit more

Give me just a little bit more." Knuckles then had a thought.

_What if she's talking about me?_ But the thought made him hide his face in his hands. _She's a really good singer actually. Will I ever tell her how I feel?_ He sighed. His heart was beating really fast and he had to breathe in deeply to stop himself from fainting. He was obviously failing though as he slumped to the ground, closing his eyes. Hearing a sound, Sonic turned around.

"Knuckles, Knuckles are you all right?" He called out and when he didn't respond, he gave the towel to Tails, who was nearly dry and bent down to him.

"Hmm…it looks like he's fainted." Just then he heard Rouge ask,

"What's happened? Is Knuckles ok?" She sounded worried.

"Yeah, he just fainted. I think your singing did it." He replied and she giggled.

"Oh was it? I would say it was the song actually, not the singing." Tails snorted with laughter at this. She stepped out of the bath with her dressing gown on and sat down next to him. Just then, he stirred and opened his eyes. Seeing everyone look at him, he jumped up.

"I'm fine, nothing's wrong with me." He laughed uneasily but the others looked unbelieving. "Oh good, you've finished Rouge. I'll just go now and have a shower." He grabbed a towel and a bar of soap before jumping into the shower. Tails tapped his fingers together evilly. The plan was going along perfectly…

"That reminds me. I had better go and have one too." Sonic remembered. He also grabbed a towel and got into the shower. Tails put his shoes and socks on and put the dressing gown away. He found a hairbrush and did his fringe while Rouge got changed and put her make up on. They waited while Sonic and Knuckles had showers and when they were ready the group set off for the Tornado. Yet again they sat in it and the door opened as they set off for Brazil…

They landed by the southeast edge of the Amazon rainforest and after hiding the Tornado they cautiously entered the forest. They had only been standing there for a few moments when Rouge announced,

"Am I hot or what? I didn't quite realise how bad it was here." She complained.

"Me too. Let's get this over and done with. Where shall we go first?" Tails asked, while fanning himself with one of his tails.

"We may as well just follow the path here." Knuckles pointed out.

They trudged along this path when up ahead they saw a bird in a tree. This bird was unlike any bird they had seen though. It had a hammer for a head and it was busy attaching a sign to the tree. It flew away and they walked up to the sign. It read 'The garden'. The group shrugged their shoulders.

"It's as good a place to start as any." Knuckles said so they followed the path until they came to a fork. Yet again there was two signs.

"'The garden' or the 'March Hare's house'." Rouge read. "Shall we carry on towards the garden?" They suddenly heard a voice.

"Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you. If you go to the garden, you'll meet the Queen of Hearts and she's in a frightful mood today." They looked up and saw a tabby cat sitting in the tree. If that weren't strange enough, it was grinning as well.

"And why is she in a bad mood?" Tails asked. It swished its tail at his question.

"She hasn't found anyone to execute in a whole day. If you're not careful, it could be you."

"But we haven't done anything illegal. And anyway, who are you? And would you stop grinning, it's making me feel weird." Sonic complained.

"I'm the Cheshire Cat. You can't do anything illegal here because there are no rules! I can't stop you if you want to go and see her but be prepared to play croquet." The cat replied. Just then they heard running behind them and a white rabbit appeared.

"Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!" It kept repeating to itself. The rabbit ran towards the garden and disappeared.

"Well that's my cue to go. I'll see you later, even if you don't!" It faded away until all was left was its grin. That vanished with a pop and the group stared at each other.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going totally insane?" Rouge asked. The others didn't reply, although they felt the same way. They walked towards the garden and managed to arrive without anything else happening.

They walked through a laurel arch into a huge garden. In the distance they could see a castle with red hearts in every window. As they looked around they saw lots of rose bushes, all of them red. They stood there, not sure what to do when they heard a fanfare. They looked to the side and saw a procession of playing cards walking towards them with an ape in the lead! Not sure what to do, they remained where they were and as the procession reached them, it stopped.

"Who dares not bow before the Queen of Hearts?" The ape shouted in a high-pitched voice.

"Well I'm Sonic and this is…" But he didn't get any further than that.

"You were not meant to answer you impertinent thing…off with his head!" The Queen shrieked and a group of cards ran to capture Sonic.

"Oh no you don't…" And with that he ran off, causing the Queen to stomp her foot.

"You let him get away you fools! Off with your heads!" The ape ran off in the same direction as Sonic.

"Come on you guys, we have to follow them!" Tails shouted and he flew away with Knuckles and Rouge following him.

_I don't like this place, it's too strange._ Sonic thought to himself as he ran along. He wasn't worried about the ape catching him up but he wanted to be careful, just in case. At last, feeling safe Sonic slowed down and walked along the path. He suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder and without looking said,

"Hello Cheshire Cat, it seems you were right, the Queen /was/ in a bad mood."

"Yes and she still is. Although you can't see her she is nearby."

"Oh and why did you say she is a Queen, she's obviously a boy." Sonic asked.

"Why do you assume an ape is a boy?" He asked instead. And with that the Cheshire Cat disappeared. There was silence for a moment before Sonic heard a snapping twig, causing him to start sprinting again.

_Ah this is more like it, running as fast as I can…_ He thought and quickly looked behind him. True to the Cheshire Cat's word, the Queen was running behind and was gaining on him. He was too busy looking at the Queen to notice he had got to the edge of a cliff and so flew over, panicking as he felt a sensation of falling. The Queen stopped and roared her head in anger before turning back to the garden.

"RAH!" They heard the Queen shout.

"Oh no, Sonic's been hurt!" Tails exclaimed. They landed and started running towards where the noise came from. Unlike Sonic though, they saw the edge of the cliff so they slowed down and stopped, seeing him sail towards the valley below.

Just then they saw something brown fly past them, heading for Sonic. It grabbed him and jumped to the side of the mountain before climbing up. When it reached the top of the cliff they could see who rescued Sonic. They backed away in fright when they first saw it because they thought it was the Queen of Hearts but they were soon put at ease.

"Hi, I'm DK. We all have questions for each other and we can answer them but I'd prefer to do it back at my tree house before my sister makes another appearance."

They followed him and he led them off the path up into a large tree. While Knuckles and Rouge could climb up it and Sonic could home attack onto the branches, Tails couldn't reach them.

"How am I going to get up?" Tails asked.

"Climb up on this rope." DK replied and a rope ladder unrolled towards the ground. Tails smiled and climbed the ladder. He soon reached the top and in between a split of two branches, there was a tree house. He walked through the front door where the others were already sat down around a table. Tails took a chair next to Sonic and listened to him explaining about Shadow.

"So I was wondering if you've seen him? Or if not would you at least tell us if you know anyone who could help us." DK scratched his head.

"And the Ice Climbers told you about me?" Sonic nodded his head. "I don't think I've seen or heard anyone of that description. The Cheshire Cat would have told me and I check my part of the Amazon every three or four days." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Well thank you anyway. You said that you would answer our questions and I have one for you. Why did we have to get away from your sister?"

"My sister is the Queen of Hearts. I suppose I should explain about the Cheshire Cat as well. I don't know where he came from because he has always been here. But his disappearing act is very useful, especially when I want to irritate my sister!" He laughed. Just then, the Cheshire Cat appeared in the middle of the table. "Oh hello, Cheshire, we've just been talking about you." He grinned as usual.

"I'm flattered. And before you ask, no I haven't seen anything interesting unless you count the Queen storming the jungle to find speedy blue boy here. You should have seen it; I think it may be her best performance so far this year." DK groaned at this news.

"Another one of my sister's acts that I missed! Never mind, I'll go down and see her later. One of her servants will no doubt tell me about it." He turned back to the group. "Although I can't help you directly, I can direct you to Banjo and Kazooie in Egypt. They're the only members of the old Nintendo gang that I keep in touch with now, apart from the Ice Climbers."

"Egypt did you say? That's great, we were planning to go there anyway. Thank you for your help but I need you to do one more thing for me. Would be able to guide us out of the jungle without bumping in the Queen? Somehow, I don't want to see her again." Sonic shivered at the thought of her.

"Of course. Can you surf trees? It makes things a lot quicker if you can. I assume that you three can fly or glide?" They nodded their heads.

"I've never tried surfing trees before. Is it like grinding by any chance?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know much about it but with trees, you just follow where they lead. I'm sure you can do it. Shall we get going?" The others stood up.

"Yes, let's. Goodbye Cheshire Cat, it was nice to meet you." Sonic said.

"Maybe we'll see each other before the end." Was all he said before vanishing.

They left the tree house and climbed a little bit further before reaching the canopy of the trees.

"Right, the exit you will want is that way." Said DK, pointing to their left. "Sonic, you follow me and do what I do ok?" They nodded their heads and everyone went in their separate directions. It wasn't long before they were at the entrance again and saying goodbye to DK.

"Thank you for your help again. I just wish I could say goodbye to the Cheshire Cat." Sonic sighed.

"And so you can. Goodbye all four of you, but especially you, speedy blue boy." The Cheshire Cat was sitting in a tree swishing his tail. He disappeared and the group walked to the Tornado after DK turned back.

"So far, we had two big adventures in as many days! I wonder if we will have anymore?" Tails pondered.

"I certainly hope not. So far, something's happened to Sonic and Rouge, which leaves just you and me. And I certainly don't want to be chased by anything." Knuckles commented.

"Oh don't look at it like that Knuckles. We still have another five countries to go so it may be a couple of countries before you get attacked." Rouge said optimistically.

"What you just said there was a great comfort to me…" Knuckles growled.

"Well of course something's going to happen to you. Someone seems to have it in for us but I don't know who." (S. Chensu: Too true, I'm going to kill them all, mwahahaha!). Rouge looked up at the sky and saw a girl typing on a computer. She blinked and the image was gone. She shook her head and jumped into the Tornado. The others followed her and soon they were in the sky yet again, heading for Egypt.

S. Chensu: Phew, another episode done! It's going all right so far I think…

Luff: Well, the reviewers seem to like it.

S. Chensu: They do, don't they? Turns to STREKS Gang. How much did you pay them?

Sonic: Hides money and chocolate Nothing!

S. Chensu: Hmm, suspicious if you ask me. Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed, all comments have been taken into consideration.

Knuckles: As long as they don't involve any more underwear shivers.

Luff: We'll see about that. If she has her way, there'll be a lot worse than that…

Knuckles: Eek!

S. Chensu: Hey this is a PG-13; I'm planning to stick to that.

Luff: Anyway, we'll stop now. Please read and review, we make the time to review others so it would be nice if you did the same.

S. Chensu: Any flames will be used to set fire to Dipstick!

Dipstick: Hey, I didn't agree to that!

Sonic: Goes up and gags Dipstick Shut up!

(Note: We'll update faster if you review. More reviews means more demand!)


	3. The continuing saga of the downright sil...

S. Chensu: Yo- Mysteriously disappears

Luff: Me first this time! Clears throat Yo people, another episode up for your viewing pleasure. This episode sees the group go to Egypt but something happens to interrupt their search. And Eggman gets more than a mention too! We're also introducing two characters who will be important later on.

S. Chensu: Storms in Luffffffffffff, you're going to get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Luff: Uh oh, time to run! Hey Shadow, I need to borrow your shoes!

Shadow: Don't even think about it!

Luff: Trips up Shadow and takes off shoes He he, she'll never be able to catch me now! Sniffs the air before swooning and fainting.

S. Chensu: Yuk, what is that smell? Gingerly smells Shadow's shoes Shadow, what do you do? Put cheese in them deliberately or something?

Shadow: No!

S. Chensu: Oh well, seeing as Luff's fainted, I'll have to read the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters (Sonic team, in case you didn't have a clue) and this episode's specialties are Banjo and Kazooie, Jinxy, Old Grabba, Sandybutt (owned by Rareware, boohoo, gone to Microsoft) and Mewtwo (owned by Nintendo)

However 

We do own: Zelgan and Gelest, Kikuyu (the planet, not the name. That came from an African tribe) and the story.

Luff: Sits up slowly Ugh, what happened?

S. Chensu: You made the mistake of sniffing Shadow's shoes.

Luff: Oh yeah, now I remember! Looks around and sees him There you are, just you wait until I get you!

Shadow: Can I have my shoes back please?

Luff: Oh yeah, of course Hands them over then realises what she's done as Shadow skates off. St, come here you bd!!!!!!! Runs after Shadow.

S. Chensu: Sighs It's probably better to leave them two alone for the moment… Anyway, sit back, relax and enjoy the continuing saga of the downright silly!

P.S. This episode will have a couple of swearwords but they have been beeped out for your benefit.

Episode three: The continuing saga of the downright silly 

The group knew they were nearing Egypt when they ran into a sandstorm.

"Arrrgh!" They screamed as they were battered and scraped to the ground. Luckily Tails had the sense to turn the Tornado around so they could shelter against it on the earth. They quickly did this and for the next few minutes, a conversation was shouted between them.

"Sandstorms around here can last for days, maybe we should go back to the ARK!" Knuckles commented, loudly of course.

"We can't get out of the sandstorm now, it's too strong. We might crash into something." Tails argued. Sonic squinted and looked around.

"By the looks of things, there's not much to crash into anyway!"

"How can you say that? Besides, you probably can't see anything!" Rouge accused. Before a fight could start Knuckles crawled in between them.

"Stop it you two! It's dying down now, can't you tell?" And true to his word, the wind was slowing down and five minutes later it had stopped completely. Everyone stood up and shook sand off themselves.

"Quick let's go and find this Banjo and Kazooie before another one starts!" Tails said and they jumped back in the Tornado.

After wandering around, they found the Giza pyramids. Knuckles was the first to jump out and he looked up in awe. Rouge stood beside him.

"They are quite magnificent. What is that there?" She asked, pointing to a statue of a cat lying down with a woman's head.

"That's the Great Sphinx. The lion's body symbolises royal power while the head is meant to represent the king. It was also considered to be a manifestation of their sun god Ra." He explained. Rouge seemed to suddenly realise something and she looked around.

"Something's wrong… I thought Egypt was really hot but it seems quite cool." Knuckles looked up at the sky.

"And so it is. That must mean that it will be nighttime soon. We had better find somewhere to stay the night. It may be really hot during the day but it's freezing cold at night." The others hurried over to them.

"Did you say it's going to get cold? We had better spread out to cover the area quicker." Sonic suggested.

They quickly split up and Knuckles walked over to the Sphinx and looked around it. After that he stood at the front of it, looking at its face. The Sphinx stared back and blinked.

"What? Statues can't blink, I had better have a look." He climbed up the statue and stood on its nose.

"Hello small red thing. What are you doing here?" It asked in a deep voice.

"Um…we're looking for Banjo and Kazooie. Are you actually speaking or is it my imagination? After all, it is a statue." Knuckles was very confused.

"Oh you won't find them now, it's too late for them to be wandering around. I'm not a statue, my name is Jinxy." He explained.

"Do you know where we can stay for the night?" Knuckles asked.

"If you want to see Banjo and Kazooie then you had better stay with me for the night. They usually come and see me in the morning, in case I have any useful information." Jinxy looked down and Knuckles did so too. A door in between Jinxy's paws opened.

"Thank you Jinxy. I will be back in a minute, I have to find the others first." Knuckles jumped down and soon found the others standing by the Tornado. "I didn't find Banjo and Kazooie but I did find a friend of theirs who said we could stay in him for the night."

"Did you just say 'in him'?" Rouge asked.

"Yes. He's the Sphinx I showed you earlier." Knuckles explained. The others followed him, Tails controlling the Tornado, to Jinxy. They entered the statue and torches lit up before the door closed.

"You can sleep on the flying carpets and there are already blankets etc. on them. Don't go down the other end, whatever you do. Old Grabba lives there and he's never in a good mood. If you look around somewhere, there should be some food for you." Jinxy said.

"Food, that reminds me, I'm really hungry. We had better go and look for it." Tails commented.

The room was quite small so they didn't take long to get around it, avoiding Old Grabba. They couldn't find it though so they stood in the middle of the room.

"There's only one place left to look but Jinxy told us not to go there." Tails said, looking nervously at where Old Grabba was meant to be. Knuckles walked slowly forward and soon saw the food.

"Oh no, the food is right where Old Grabba is. Well Sonic you know what to do." He said cheerfully.

"What? Why do I have to get it?" He complained.

"As the fastest hedgehog, you should be able to run there and back again before it even realises what hit him." Sonic sighed.

"All right, I get the point. You're getting me back for what I did to you at Eggman's secret base. Just be prepared to catch food." And with that, he crept forward until he heard a rumbling sound.

"Who dares disturb Old Grabba from his sleep?" A huge hand rose out of the sand and started chasing Sonic. There were some very near misses and Rouge squealed,

"I can't bear to look, he's going to get hurt!" She hid her face on Knuckles' shoulder; causing Knuckles went a lovely maroon colour.

"Don't worry Rouge, he's going to be fine. You've never seen him in action before. He's as fast as Shadow." He patted her back comfortingly and she stared up at him. He stared at Sonic to avoid her gaze and pointed. "Look here comes the food now." Tails meanwhile was looking at this scene with glee.

_Just a few more days left hopefully._ He saw the food too and ran forward to catch it. Knuckles and Rouge helped too and soon Sonic came dashing back. He turned back and saw Old Grabba shake his fist at them before sinking into the sand.

"Phew, I'm glad that's over. At least it's worked up an appetite." Sonic walked over to the others who were looking at the food.

They had laid it down on the floor and were deciding what they could eat. It was mainly a variety of nuts, fruit and vegetables including dates, figs, tomatoes, bananas and potatoes. There was sheep and goat meat too and several bottles of water. They seemed to be talking about the potatoes and meat.

"I think we should cook them because we might get a stomach bug if we don't." Rouge argued.

"But how are we going to cook them?" Knuckles asked. Tails suddenly had an idea.

"I've just realised something." He ran to the Tornado and came back carrying a box. He put it on the floor and took out a portable cooker. "I knew it was lying around somewhere. There you go, problem solved." He set it up and found a pot and some matches. He took the potatoes and put them in with some water.

"Where did that come from?" Sonic asked.

"It's something I carry around, just in case. Anyone want to light it?" Rouge held out her hand and Tails passed the matches. She struck one and Tails quickly turned the gas on as she lit it.

"I don't suppose you have a frying pan and spatula too?" Rouge asked.

"I think I do, I'll just have a look." He walked over to the Tornado again and rummaged around. A lot of clanking and banging was heard and Tails came back with not just cooking utensils but plates, knives and forks too. The others had looks of disbelief on their face as they stared at Tails. "What?" He asked and they busied themselves.

"I'll do the cooking, you lot probably don't know a thing about food." Rouge volunteered.

"I don't know much about food but I do know what to do with it." Sonic said.

"Yeah…eat it!" Knuckles added and they were met with a glare from Rouge.

"You can have a look at these flying carpets while you're waiting then." They shrugged their shoulders and climbed onto the lowest one.

"Whoa!" They both shouted as the carpet rose into the air. It made a strange noise too, which spooked them out. It stopped and they breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly it fell back down again.

"Arrrgh!" They screamed as they were brought crashing down towards the ground. The carpet stopped just a few inches from the floor and they got off quickly.

"Are you two ok?" Tails asked and they nodded their heads faintly. Rouge by now was frying slices of meat and the others put out plates for the food to go on.

Soon they were eating and everything was going fine until Rouge asked,

"Can you me pass a banana please Knuckles?" He ripped one off from the bunch and passed it to her. She took it and as she did so, their hands touched. For a few moments Knuckles didn't realise what was happening and when he did, he went a blood red colour. He snatched his hand back and stared down in embarrassment.

"Are you ok Knuckles? You've gone a really strange colour…" Sonic commented. Knuckles didn't say anything so he shrugged his shoulders and finished eating. When everything had been cleared away, they turned to the problem of the flying carpets.

"I'm not going on one of them again, we nearly got killed last time!" Sonic said hysterically. With the help of Tails though, Rouge managed to persuade him to go up.

"All right, I'm going, I'm going! But if I get hurt, it's your fault!"

"Ok, whatever you want." Rouge replied and Sonic reluctantly got onto the first one. The others got onto the carpets and got into their 'beds'. Nobody really wanted to talk so silence fell on the room as they tried to get to sleep.

Knuckles, Tails and Rouge woke up in the morning to the sound of Sonic falling off the carpet. Despite this, he remained asleep (snoring loudly) for several more minutes until he woke up and felt the pain of his fall.

"Oh st! My ae really hurts!" He stood up and noticed a girl standing in front of him, looking disapprovingly at him (her name is Luff).

"Sonic, watch your language!" She scolded before disappearing. To cheer Sonic up, Rouge joked,

"Ah, shall I kiss it better?" Tails was retching behind her back at Knuckles who grinned. All Sonic did was go a strange purple colour (his attempt at blushing) and Rouge laughed. Now that everyone was awake, they got out of bed (apart from Sonic, who was rubbing his butt) and ate a breakfast of bananas. Knuckles obviously still had the memory of last night because he kept away from the bunch.

They were just cleaning up when the door opened and in walked a bear wearing yellow shorts and a red bird.

"We know who you are, and we suppose you know who we are. But I'll tell you anyway. I'm Banjo and this is Kazooie." The bear said. "We heard that you were looking for something."

"Yes we're looking for a friend of ours. He's a hedgehog called Shadow." Sonic explained.

"By any chance, is he black?" Kazooie asked.

"Yes he is, have you seen him then?" Tails asked hopefully.

"No, but his name told me all I needed to know. Only someone who's desperate calls himself Shadow."

"He didn't call himself Shadow, he was code named…I mean he was born Shadow." Sonic explained. Kazooie looked thoughtful at his words.

"Code named eh? That means that you're from the military. I don't know Banjo, I don't want to get involved with any more of their messes."

"You misunderstand us. We're not from the military, he just happened to be involved with them, that's all. He doesn't like them though." Rouge explained.

"Come on Kazooie, we may as well help them, we don't have anything else to do." Banjo tried to persuade her.

"Ok then, we'll look around the desert and you can go on a tour if you want. Anyone interested in pyramids?" Kazooie asked.

"Yeah me, why?" Knuckles was puzzled.

"Because unfortunately, there are none here!" She exclaimed but at Knuckles' blank look she held her head in her wing. "It's called sarcasm." She added hopefully. "Oh forget about it."

"Don't worry Kazooie, I understood…I think." Banjo pondered what she had said.

"I'm surrounded by idiots." She announced.

"Now you know how I feel." A voice resonated throughout the Earth from the computer in the sky.

They exited Jinxy and Banjo and Kazooie led the group to the largest pyramid.

"This is King Sandybutt's pyramid but he doesn't usually like people going in it. Just ignore him if he threatens you, he's a mummy that's ready to fall to pieces." Kazooie explained. She entered the door and they heard a voice.

"Who dares enter King Sandybutt's pyramid?"

"Oh shut up, you old fogy!" Kazooie retorted. She turned to the group. "You should be all right now but sometimes he'll send out some ghost mummies." She exited the pyramid and now they stood there on their own.

"Come on Knuckles, you can lead the way seeing as you wanted to go here in the first place." Rouge said and he walked forward looking around nervously. Occasionally the others heard him mutter the words 'ghosts' and 'scared'.

"Knuckles, you're not afraid of ghosts are you?" Rouge asked. Knuckles responded by whimpering and shaking his head.

"Are you sure?" Asked Tails, puzzled by his behaviour. Another whimper was heard and a nod of his head was seen. Sonic by this time was getting annoyed with him.

"Look, Knuckles just tell us the truth! Are you scared of ghosts or not?" Once more, a little whimper erupted from Knuckles' throat and he nodded his head. Everyone laughed at him and he turned around angrily.

"It's not funny you know!" And he stormed off before anyone could stop him.

He turned the corner and suddenly had an idea. He waited for the others to walk past, looking for him.

"I didn't realise he was so sensitive or I wouldn't have asked him about it." Rouge said worryingly.

"I hope he hasn't done anything stupid, he doesn't always think when he's angry." Sonic added. When they weren't looking, Knuckles crept behind them.

"ARRRGH!" He shouted and the others jumped around. Knuckles fell to the ground in laughter, rolling around. When the others didn't say anything though, he stopped and sat up. Their mouths were open and their eyes were popping out. "Guys, it was just me. You can stop doing that now…guys?" Tails pointed behind Knuckles and he looked round slowly. There was a white, shimmering mist, which looked like a person.

"Ooohhhhh!" It said and Knuckles jumped up. He ran away screaming his head off, waving his hands above his head. The image disappeared and the others grew panicky.

"He's actually run off this time! What if that thing hurts him?" Rouge wailed.

"Or he hurts himself in his panic?" Tails added.

"Calm down you two. I'll go and find him, it may be that he tried to hide around the corner." And with that Sonic ran off. Rouge and Tails crept towards each other and walked down the tunnel.

Meanwhile Knuckles had come to a stop and had sunk to the ground. After a few moments, his breathing had returned to normal and he realised what he had done.

"What have I done? Rouge is going to think I'm a right wimp now." He stood up. "Well, the least I can do is find the others." He looked around before walking back the way he came. It wasn't long before he found Rouge and Tails cowering against each other. When she saw him, she ran up and hugged him, causing him to go a lovely shade of cinnabar.

"You're all right, thank goodness!" She let go of him and thought for a moment. "Hang on a minute, didn't you see Sonic?"

"No, why?" He asked, puzzled.

"Well it's just that he went looking for you and went the same way you came. I don't think he would have missed you on purpose." Knuckles frowned.

"We had better go on a bit and see if we can find him." They walked together through the tunnel and ten minutes later, they found Sonic. He seemed rather absent minded and Knuckles asked, "Are you ok Sonic, you missed me completely." Sonic looked at him and they stared at each other. _There's something wrong with him._ There was a steely glint to Sonic's eyes but suddenly, he shook his head and smiled.

"Had you worried there didn't I? I wonder how I missed you?" He thought for a moment but then smiled again.

_Something's wrong, I had better keep an eye on him._ Knuckles thought.

They quickly exited the pyramid and were met by Banjo and Kazooie.

"Did you find him?" Rouge asked and they shook their heads.

"We're sorry. But if you ever go to Japan, you can talk to Marth and Roy. Hope you enjoyed the pyramids." Banjo said.

"Yeah, it was great." Sonic said quickly.

"If Sandybutt caused you any problems, I'll peck his butt personally for you." Kazooie promised.

"Don't worry about it, he didn't cause any problems." Tails reassured. "But I do wonder if there is anything else in there because we saw…ouch, Sonic, why did you do that?" Tails exclaimed, rubbing his arm where he had just been punched.

"Nevermind Tails, that never happened ok?" Sonic said threateningly. Everyone stared at him but he just ignored them.

"Well, we'd better get going. Thank you for looking for us and say goodbye to Jinxy for me." Knuckles said before turning away with the others following him. They found the Tornado and set off for the ARK. As they flew up Sonic suddenly announced.

"Can we quickly stop there Tails please, I think I left something there." He was pointing to Meteor Herd and Tails did as he said, frowning at the others.

They landed on the crater filled planet and Sonic jumped out.

"Knuckles, can you come with me please?" He asked. Knuckles followed him as he set off quickly.

_Why is he doing this?_ Knuckles thought to himself as he walked behind Sonic.

"Tails, I'm really worried, I think we should follow Sonic and Knuckles." Rouge jumped out and set off after them.

"Wait for me Rouge!" Tails called out and he ran after her. When he caught up with her, she was standing by a big tower made up of different levels. "Did they go up there?" Tails asked, pointing to the tower. Rouge didn't reply though and Tails nudged her. "Are you ok?" She shook her head and turned to him.

"Yeah, it's just that last time I was here, something happened and sometimes I wish…"

"You wish what?" Tails asked.

"Nothing…nothing." She replied hastily but by now Tails was interested.

"Hang on a minute…Knuckles has been here before too. I don't suppose it had anything to do with him did it?" At the mention of Knuckles, Rouge went pink.

"Why do you assume that?" But at Tails' look she sighed. "Yes it did have something to do with him but I don't want to talk about it ok? Anyway, they went up there. I think I should go up and you stay here, in case they come back." She flew upwards and Tails wandered over to the tower to wait for someone to appear.

_I wonder if Tails knows about my feelings?_ Rouge thought. _Nah, he's only young, he can't know anything about love, or can he?_ She sighed and landed at the top of the tower. She looked down and saw Knuckles and Sonic standing just where she and Knuckles had stood a few days ago…

"Sonic slow down a bit, I can't go as fast as you." Knuckles gasped as he saw Sonic climbing the tower. He didn't reply though so he set himself to the task of getting to the top. He was surprised when Sonic stopped half way up on a beam… _Oh no, I was here with Rouge a few days ago. Why did he have to stop there?_ Just the memory of what had happened made him blush and he made sure that his face had returned to its normal colour before lifting himself up onto the beam.

Sonic was looking down but he didn't seem to be searching for anything. Knuckles stood next to him and looked down as well.

"Is it down there?" Knuckles asked and Sonic nodded his head. He stared at Knuckles. _There's something different about his eyes, they're a different colour…_ He thought. "Aren't you going to get it then?" He asked aloud.

"I want you to get it." Sonic replied stiffly.

"Why me? Why do I have to get it?" Knuckles asked, exasperated. Sonic's eyes narrowed.

"You're going to get it or I'll force you to." He snarled. Knuckles backed away a couple of steps but then stood in a fighting pose.

"Just you try." He threatened and before he knew it Sonic ran for him.

He jumped up and Sonic missed him but he then grabbed him by his waist. Sonic threw him downwards and started to home attack him. He crashed into a wall with a sickening crunch. He slid down onto a platform and groaned. Everywhere hurt and every time he blinked, he found it hard to open his eyes again. Before he could get up though he saw Sonic using his Magic Gloves and he shrunk until he was three inches tall. Yet again he was slammed against the wall with another sickening crunch. He grew to his normal size and as Sonic did another homing attack, Knuckles threw his fist forward and managed to punch Sonic right over his eye. This startled Sonic and he had enough time to slash him across the face before he started blacking out from the pain. The pain was so bad that his brain started to go fuzzy as well as his sight. The last thing he saw was him falling towards the lava at the bottom when he shut his eyes…

"KKNNUUCCKKLLEESS!" Rouge screamed and immediately set off to save him. She shot down like a bullet and caught him just as he was going to be singed by deadly lava. She whizzed back up and placed him on the beam. She faced Sonic and before he could even blink, she had kicked him right in the crotch.

"ARRRGH!" He bent over double and in the corner of her eye; she saw something appear behind him. It looked like a person but it had a tail and cat like face. It was purple and Rouge suddenly felt something enter her mind.

"You stay out of my mind you bd!" She screamed. She slapped it hard across the face and it flew away, after crying out in annoyance. She suddenly remembered Knuckles and Sonic and bent down to them.

Knuckles' legs and right arm were stuck out at odd angles and Sonic had a black eye and three deep slashes across his face. He was holding his crotch and groaning in pain but Knuckles had been knocked unconscious. She then saw a light and in front of her stood a girl.

She wore stone coloured (with a hint of yellow) big flares with a split up the front of the leg. She had black stiletto boots and a strappy top. The top was purple with a Celtic design in the middle and a die-dyed effect at the bottom. She had brown hair, which was twisted up and attached with a grip. She smiled when she saw Rouge and her face was full of friendliness.

"Hello Rouge, I'm Zelgan and I'm going to help your friends but I'll have to put you to sleep. I have already put them to sleep as you can see." And true to her word, Sonic had stopped groaning and was lying still along with Knuckles. "Good bye for now." Her voice was calm and Rouge allowed herself to fall asleep and she laid her head on Knuckles' chest. "Come on Gelest, I will need your help too. I can't carry the three of them on my own." She called out and from a level above appeared another girl.

She also had brown hair but unlike Zelgan's, it was long and flowing. She wore a pale blue strapless corset type top and a long straight blue skirt. She wore nothing on her feet and because of this she walked on the front of them. Her most remarkable feature though was her dove like wings, which stretched a metre on either side of her.

"Shall I tell the fox that his friends are all fast asleep because they've just attacked each other?" She asked sarcastically.

"No, just tell him to bring his machine up so he can take one of them. My powers won't allow me to take two and I should take the echidna, seeing the condition he's in." She replied seriously.

"So he's an echidna? That's funny because I thought he was a Rastafarian or something like that." She was met with a glare from Zelgan. "I'll just go now shall I?" She flew away quickly and landed on the ground near Tails.

"Who are you? What's happened to Sonic and Knuckles? And Rouge for that matter." He asked. She held up a hand in a placid manner.

"Calm down. Your friends are not too badly hurt but my sister has put them to sleep and we need you to transport one of them to our house." He got back into the Tornado and followed her up the tower to the beam.

When he saw the three of them lying there he shouted out angrily,

"What have you done to my friends? And why are those two lying like that?" He had just noticed Rouge and Knuckles and they looked so sweet that he calmed down a bit.

"Duh, she's in love with him. Can you take her please? My sister is taking the Rast- I mean the echidna and I'm taking blue spiky guy here." Gelest explained.

"Although this seems a bit sudden we will tell you more when we've sorted out your friends." Zelgan continued and suddenly, Knuckles floated into the air.

"What's happening to him?" Tails cried out alarmed.

"Ssh, you have to let her concentrate. She has psychic powers and because of the way he's in, we won't risk carrying him. Come on, we had better go." Gelest picked up Rouge and placed her in the Tornado before taking Sonic. She launched into the sky and Tails followed, feeling very confused.

When he first saw the planet, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was completely covered in forest and beaches around the small seas. As he got closer, he saw a large mansion and they landed in the back garden.

"Wait here with her for a few minutes please. We have to find beds for your two friends here." Gelest announced before she and Zelgan disappeared into the house. Tails sat on the top of his seat and soon, Rouge was stirring.

"Where am I? What's happening?" She asked as she sat up.

"We're on a planet of some sort and at the moment two people are making sure that Knuckles and Sonic are ok." Tails answered.

"Two people? I only saw one, but then I was falling asleep so-" She gasped and went pink. "Tails, you didn't see us when we were asleep did you?" She asked.

"Of course I did! Why?" But of course he already knew why.

"It was a complete accident, I was asleep, I must have just fallen on him by accident." She laughed nervously.

"Don't worry, I won't tell him about your 'little accident' if you want." He smiled and Rouge breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon Gelest and Zelgan came back and now they looked different as Gelest's wings had disappeared and they were now wearing t-shirts and jeans.

"You can see your friends later if you want but I think we have some explaining to do." Zelgan said before turning back to the house. Tails and Rouge shrugged their shoulders and followed them in.

They walked down a corridor and entered the kitchen. They sat down at the table and Zelgan talked while Gelest rummaged through the cupboards, looking for food.

"I'm Zelgan and this-" She nudged Gelest who was trying to decide between having orange juice or milk. She looked up and smiled. "This is Gelest. We help people who've been hurt and I am trying to stop Mewtwo."

"Who's Mewtwo?" Tails asked.

"He's a pokémon who has psychic powers and likes to take over people's minds. This is what happened to Sonic and that's why he was acting strangely."

"Oh stop it with the depressing stuff already. If I was them I would be really hungry. Do you want something to eat?" She asked, holding a plate made up of sandwiches, fruit, chocolate and a packet of crisps. "You can have some of my lunch if you want, it might be just a bit too much for me." She added.

"How can you think of food at a time like this? I'm sure you're more concerned your friends aren't you?" Zelgan said, trying to persuade them.

"Of course we are but I wouldn't say no to something." Tails replied as he took a sandwich and Rouge took an apple. Zelgan scowled.

"Oh let them have something. They won't be able to see their friends for at least the next four or five hours. After all, Rastafarian guy is knocked out and blue thing should rest." Gelest argued.

"What's a Rastafarian? And a few hours? Are you sure we can't see them sooner?" Tails asked.

"Nevermind about the Rastafarian, he's not really. Don't you worry, the hours will fly by. Do you have to call anyone?" Zelgan asked.

"Yes actually. We'd better tell Eggman, this might affect him." Rouge told Tails. Tails took out his communicator and turned it on.

"Eggman, this is Tails. There's been an accident up here. Knuckles and Sonic have been injured. At the moment we're at a place where they're being looked after."

"This is news indeed! Where are you then? I assume you're not on Earth." He replied.

"We're on…"

"Kikuyu." Gelest hissed.

"We're on a planet called Kikuyu. I just thought you needed to know about this. So then, how's the house going?" Tails asked, changing the subject.

"Hmm…things are moving slowly at the moment. This legal stuff does take a long time. At the moment I'm sorting out bank statements so I can prove I have the money for the house. I think I had better come up there after all, I don't have much to do now, it's all the bank and solicitors stuff now. Where did you say this place is?" Eggman asked.

"It's a planet that hangs over Australia. It's hard to miss. Over and out." Tails put the communicator away and leaned back.

"Are you sure we can't see them now?" He asked.

"Bit enthusiastic aren't you?" Gelest raised an eyebrow.

"Well…I wanted…" Tails turned his eyes to Rouge and pointed at her slightly but Gelest decided to play stupid.

"You wanted what?" She asked and Tails sighed, rolling his eyes.

"It's a bit embarrassing…can I talk to you outside?" He asked.

"Of course you can, come with me." She stood up and Tails followed her. When he was outside she folded her arms and attempted to look serious. "Are you trying to set people up? I don't like the sound of that…"

"I know, I shouldn't interfere, but they were made for each other. It's so obvious they like each other, they're just too shy to admit it that's all."

"I was going to say that that will involve love and if there's one thing I despise, it's love." She interrupted.

"Oh no, they won't suddenly go all sickly on each other. This is a new part of the plan I've just added. Why don't you like love?" He added. Instead of answering though, she grew defensive.

"No reason, we always hate the things we want the most eh?" She changed the subject quickly. "So what does seeing him early mean then?"

"Well I'm hoping that she'll be so worried that she'll tell him her feelings. I don't suppose there's a way you can spy on them is there?" He asked hopefully.

"Yes but I'm not doing it. That's just plain rude. If you want though…" She added, seeing his crestfallen face. "I can check to see if they tell each other anything important. I'm good with emotions like that." She opened the kitchen door. "I suppose you can see him then. Would you like to see Rastafarian?" She asked Rouge and she jumped up enthusiastically.

"Yes please…if that's all right with you." She looked down nervously.

"Of course it is. Come right this way. Zelgan, tell me if this Eggman person comes please." And with that, she walked out of the kitchen before Zelgan could protest.

They walked along the corridor and up a flight of stairs. She stopped at the first two doors.

"Blue thing is on the left, and Rastafarian guy is on the right." She pushed the doors opened and Tails went in quickly, shutting the door. He peeked through the keyhole and when Rouge had gone in, he left the room.

Rouge entered the room and gasped at the state of Knuckles. He looked half dead. Suddenly overcome by emotion, Rouge started crying.

"Oh what has Sonic done? I know it's not his fault but…if only I had been there, if only I had insisted on going with him." She cried out. She paced the floor in thought. _I shouldn't tell him about my feelings. The man always asks the girl out. But I've never felt this way about anyone before. We'll see…_ She sat down on a seat and waited.

She was hoping he would wake up but after five minutes of not even a twitch she stood up. She walked to him and leant over. She quickly hugged him and kissed him on the forehead. She felt guilty but then she said aloud,

"This may be the only chance I get to kiss him. I suppose I had better go now." She left the room and when she saw Tails and Gelest, Gelest had her eyes covered.

"Now all we have to do is wait for her." But Gelest was puzzled.

"You're not even going to see your best friend? Is them two getting together more important than a friend?"

"No, of course I care. It's just that…I'm afraid." He whispered.

"Afraid of what? Oh I see, you don't want to see how he's been injured." She smiled comfortingly.

"Yes, but how did you know that? And how did you know he was my best friend?" Now Tails was puzzled.

"I can…I can read people's auras. Now you can understand why I can tell people's feelings. Umm…this may sound stupid but can you not tell anyone this, not even your friends? I'm a bit sensitive about it." She concluded.

"Of course not. Can you tell me one thing though? How come you and Zelgan live on this planet all by yourselves?" He knew he had hit a sensitive spot by the way Gelest looked.

"Let's just say that I was treated very badly where I used to live. Some people are not very understanding about appearances. Maybe you can understand too." She stared at him and he realised what she meant.

"Oh you mean my tails? I used to be teased too but Sonic taught me how I can use them and now I can fly when others cannot. You should consider yourself lucky, not many people have your gift."

"You mean my curse… Anyway, I wasn't even going to tell you this. Do not whatever you do tell my sister, she'll have a heart attack when she finds out I've been this close to tears." She said holding her finger and thumb an inch apart. He could see she was telling the truth as she blinked rapidly.

The door opened and Rouge walked out. Gelest covered her eyes with her hand.

"Are you ok Gelest?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah, she just feels a bit dizzy that's all. Shall we go back down now?" Tails asked and together they walked down the stairs. They entered the kitchen and who else should be sitting there than Eggman.

"I got here as soon as I could. How are they doing?" He asked.

"Let's just say that Knuckles won't be going anywhere for a while." Rouge replied and Tails realised he didn't know about Sonic, causing him to panic.

"Sonic is…" He stumbled but Gelest rescued him.

"It's ok Tails, I know this is hard for you. He mainly has injuries to his face but don't you worry, they'll heal soon." She put her arm around his shoulder. He smiled and when no one was looking, he winked at her. Zelgan stood up.

"I know something we can do to pass the time. Shall we go for a walk in the garden?" She suggested and Gelest smiled.

"Yeah it's so big it takes about two or three hours just to do the small path. Well, I'm up for it, anyone else going?" She stood up and put the plate in the sink.

"We may as well, seeing as Sonic and Knuckles won't be up for several hours." Eggman said and they walked out of the kitchen with Tails and Rouge at the end.

The garden turned out to be made up of different zones, which had many types of plants in them. The part they walked in was made up of oaks and beech trees. As they went the three of them told Gelest and Zelgan about what they were doing.

"So then, how on earth did you end up at Meteor Herd?" Zelgan asked.

"We were on the way back from Egypt when Sonic said he wanted to go there. We went and well…you know the rest." Rouge explained.

"But why were you in Egypt? And when did Sonic start acting strangely?" Zelgan persisted.

"We were looking for a friend and I suppose he started acting weird after Knuckles ran off." Rouge said.

"I think you should tell us the whole story, otherwise we'll never understand." Gelest said.

So they did. Right from the beginning when Shadow had fallen to Earth to Sonic telling them about him wanting to go to Meteor Herd. They didn't explain anything that happened before that though.

"I understand now. So you're looking for your friend Shadow. How did you say you met him?" Gelest asked.

"We just helped him that's all and it kind of built up from there." Tails lied. Gelest looked scornful.

"Please don't lie, its very pathetic of you. You of all people should know that Tails." She scolded.

"I'm sorry but if we tried to explain the truth, it would take us even longer." Tails apologised. "Maybe if you told me about yourself then you could try to understand."

"Shall we go for a private walk then?" She said and they walked off, leaving everyone else very confused.

"I don't believe it! I think someone has finally managed to get her to open up." Zelgan exclaimed.

"Right, if I'm going to be doing explaining, I don't want any interruptions ok? I can usually make my conversation flow better then." Gelest said. Tails nodded his head and she took a deep breath.

"It started, well from the beginning I think. As soon as I was aware of my surroundings, I knew what was happening to me. I found out that I had been created so that scientists could try out experiments on me. Many of them didn't work; I still have the scars, physically and mentally. But their main aim was to see how much pain I could go through. Then the real research started. It seemed that they wanted to see if they could create an angel. The whole works, but the most important thing was the wings. I spent months incubated while they injected animal DNA into me to see what would happen. They succeeded of course. Do you know what they did to celebrate? They drank champagne while they watched me, the pain I went through.

"Now you being clever know that spines are not equipped to take on a pair of wings. My shoulder blades grew deformed but that didn't matter to them. As long as they succeeded and got their money, I was just a toy to them. While all of this was happening, I made friends with one of the scientist's daughter. Her name was Zelgan and even now we are friends. She had psychic powers but she never told anyone because she knew they would do exactly the same thing to her. When the experiments had finished for a period, they let me out and told her to keep me company.

"They were the happiest times for me. She treated me like an equal, a person. She didn't care about my deformed back, where others might have done. She taught me how to improve my spirituality and in the end I became good at reading auras. She told me stories of the places she had been to on Earth when her mum was travelling. I soon became fascinated with Earth and as time went by, I hoped I would soon be able to travel too.

"My dream was shattered though when the scientists restarted their testing. They now wanted to see whether I could fly or not. It took a lot of time getting used to flapping them and watching how birds fly, so I could copy them. They didn't seem to understand though, they just grew angry with me when I was tired, which happened often. By now I was about ten and I started to want to be normal.

"Zelgan of course helped me. She was amazing with clothes and she fashioned a costume I could wear, which you saw me wearing earlier today. In the end I suppose the anger just built up. I never liked fighting; the things I was told by Zelgan put me off it. But even she grew fed up. She wanted to go back to her home and see her friends but the way things were going, it would be some time.

"Things came to a head when the scientists came in and brandished a scalpel, like a mad doctor. They wanted to operate on me and seemed to enjoy telling me I might be paralysed for the rest of my life. Zelgan, I found out, had actually been creating a plan for us two to escape. I didn't know though at the time and I nearly got killed because of it. I never knew that in space, there is no air and so as I ran around I crashed into one of the windows and cracked it. Luckily Zelgan had the sense to find a space shuttle and as I was sucked out, she rescued me. Because of the lack of air I was very weak but she took me to Kikuyu where I rested.

"We found out that this place had been deserted for some time and so we took it over. We didn't realise that the thing that destroyed the people was still here. We soon discovered it, Mewtwo, and Zelgan managed to hurt him badly. He disappeared and since then, we've helped people who have been affected by him, including you.

"That's most of my life I've just told you about. Don't tell the others about this, although they may want to know. So now I've finished, what is this about Shadow?" She asked. She seemed pleased to have got all of her secrets off her chest and smiled in relief.

"Well Shadow was a project to create the ultimate life form on the space colony ARK. When the government suspected that Professor Gerald had created a weapon of mass destruction, they shut down the colony and everyone died. I think Shadow feels very bitter about most people and for a while we fought against him but something happened and he sacrificed himself to stop the world from being destroyed." Tails explained and Gelest looked thoughtful.

"Shadow eh? And the ARK? I think I've heard about them. I remember the scientists whispering about them. They never said what happened but everyone knew about it and hoped it would never happen again." Gelest said. They turned a corner and saw Eggman, Rouge and Zelgan walking towards them. Gelest stopped suddenly and closed her eyes.

"Got to run. I've just remembered something I have to do, see you later." She said and she ran off. Zelgan looked puzzled.

"What was all that about?" She directed her question at Tails but he just shrugged his shoulders.

Knuckles' eyes flickered and opened. As he was sitting up he could feel all of his bruises.

"Ugh, I feel like a ton of bricks has landed on me." He groaned. Suddenly he heard a voice.

"That's because you have a lot of bruising from that attack." It pointed out. He saw standing in front of him a teenager (Gelest) with brown hair who was obviously a nurse. He looked down and saw two large white lumps near the end of the bed where his legs were meant to be!

"What are those?" He asked suspiciously.

"Oh, they're your legs." She replied offhandedly.

"What, I've broken both my legs?" He was trying desperately hard to remember what had happened but failing miserably.

"And you broke your arm as well." She added brightly. He held up his arms and saw that the right one was in cast too.

"Arrrgh!" He shouted and nearly toppled out of the bed. "Do I have any more injuries?"

"Oh yes, you have a big, permanent scar running across your left cheek." She seemed to be enjoying the pain he was in.

"What!?" He felt his face with his left hand and the girl started laughing.

"I was only joking. It's just the arm and two legs."

"But how did this happen? Everything seems fuzzy."

"And that's probably a good thing. From where I was standing, it looked pretty nasty. To explain it simply though," She counted the steps on her fingers. "Spiky thing got angry, he attacked you and you got injured."

"What? He attacked me? Oh wait 'til I see him, I'll show him a thing or two." He clenched his fists in anger but grimaced and relaxed.

"You won't be going anywhere in your condition. And strictly speaking you did start the argument." Knuckles frowned.

"I did?"

"Absolutely typical! You just happen to forget how it all started." She looked disbelieving.

"Actually, I've forgotten most of what has happened." The girl shrugged her shoulders.

"Ok then. I have to go now and remember not to tell anyone that I was here ok?" She asked.

"Why not?" A look of realisation appeared on his face. "You're not a nurse are you?"

"How long did it take you to work that one out? Zelgan doesn't trust me near anyone even slightly injured in case I hurt them even more. Well goodbye Rastafarian, we'll meet again soon." She walked out of the room.

"I think you can all see him now. Just try not to excite him or anything ok?" Gelest had just appeared and told them about Knuckles but Zelgan scowled.

"Gelest, I hope you didn't go and try to wake him up?"

"Of course not, he was already awake. It was extremely funny though when he saw his mangled body." She grinned but stopped when she saw Zelgan's look. "Oh Zelgan, I had to. It was just too irresistible." Zelgan turned to the others.

"Sorry about this but Gelest isn't allowed to see anyone before me. She usually makes them go insane by telling them that they're going to die or something like that."

"But I didn't tell him that, I just said he had permanent scarring and that his friend attacked him." Gelest said, trying to act innocent. "All right, I'll go and get him and bring him down to the kitchen." She walked off and the others followed her.

The group headed to the kitchen while Gelest went to get Knuckles. She opened the door and Knuckles sat up.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked.

"That's very rude. You don't have to worry about not telling the others you've never seen me because they already know. I didn't tell you about spiky guy attacking you ok? Strictly speaking he did but he was under someone's control." She took a wheelchair from a cupboard and helped him into it. She took a lift down the stairs and wheeled him into the kitchen.

"Knuckles, you're all right! I'm so glad to see you!" Rouge exclaimed and Gelest squinted. He smiled shyly.

"Yeah, just a bit sore that's all." He replied.

"Just a bit sore, you've broken both your legs and an arm! How can you be just a bit sore?" Gelest exclaimed. Tails stood up.

"Can I go and see Sonic please?" He asked and left the room when Zelgan nodded.

He walked up the stairs and entered the room to see Sonic looking very panicky.

"Thank goodness you're here Tails, something's happened. I seem to be in a bed when I distinctly remember us being in the pyramid about half a minute ago." He was very puzzled and Tails sat on the edge of his bed.

"Ok, I think I have some explaining to do…" And he explained exactly what happened except he skipped out on the details of what damage Sonic had done to Knuckles.

"So you're saying something took over my brain and it made me attack Knuckles?" Tails nodded his head. "What did I do to him? And what's happened to me?" Tails realised what Sonic actually looked like and blinked several times. He had a huge black eye and three gashes across his face.

"Knuckles isn't too bad and he even managed to do some damage to you." He said lightly.

"What sort of damage?" Sonic asked.

"A black eye and three lovely scratches across your face." Tails admitted.

"My face has been damaged? I hope it's not permanent! Wait 'til I see that Knuckles, he won't know what's hit him!" Sonic threatened.

"Well to be honest, he didn't. He assumed it was you but he must have thought you couldn't have been acting your normal self." Tails explained.

"Tails, that's not what I mean and you know it! I think we should go and find the others so I can deal with Knuckles." He kneaded his fist into his hand and walked out of the room with Tails following him.

"Sonic don't hurt him, you don't know the damage you actually did to him!" Sonic stopped by the half open door and Tails grabbed his arm. "Sonic I wasn't telling the truth! Knuckles has…"

But he never finished his sentence as Sonic burst in and stopped in shock, staring at Knuckles.

"See what I mean?" Tails said and Sonic sank down into a seat.

"Tails you never told me…oh my God, what have I done?" He looked disbelieving.

"Let's see, you broke both my legs and my arm." Knuckles said while looking at his afore mentioned limbs. He looked at Sonic and smiled. "I still managed to do a bit of damage though, eh?" Sonic looked at a mirror hanging on the wall and winced.

"I can see. I'm glad I wasn't aware of what I was doing because it must have been pretty painful." Sonic laughed but Gelest suddenly gasped.

"Zelgan, don't tell me you didn't tell them about the effects of injuries?" Zelgan looked sheepish.

"You two, although you couldn't feel the pain then you usually feel it after a few hours…"

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

"Let's see, how many hours has it been since you were both attacked?" Gelest looked at her watch. "Six hours! Well, the pain should be coming about…"

"ARRRGH!" Knuckles and Sonic screamed at the same time.

"Now." Gelest concluded. They were clutching various bits of their bodies but Sonic was most disturbed by the pain in his crotch.

"Why does my crotch really hurt?"

"I forgot about that! I kicked you there when you tired to attack me!" Rouge tried to sound like it was nothing but failed. Knuckles seemed to be worse off because he could only grab things with one arm and having three broken limbs, he was trying to grab all three at once.

"I think it's time for the painkillers." Gelest said and took out several bottles of pills from the cupboards. "Here we go, the bottles for broken limbs, black eyes, gashes and damaged crotches." She split the pills up and amazingly enough Sonic had more.

"Damaged crotches take a lot of painkillers." Zelgan said as an explanation and she plus Gelest helped them to swallow them.

After a few more minutes of wincing they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad that's over. We still have to find Shadow though so we'd better go now." Sonic said and he stood up but Gelest pushed him back into his seat.

"You may not feel the pain but it's still there. You should at least stay for the night and he should stay here for two or three more days." She pointed to Knuckles. Sonic sighed in exasperation.

"But we have to find him soon or he might be dead."

"From what I've heard, if he's going to die anytime over the next day then he should have died already. He's made of stronger stuff than you realise." Gelest said wisely. When the others looked puzzled though, she shrugged her shoulders and laughed uneasily.

Zelgan made dinner and after that had finished everyone was so tired that they went to bed.

The next morning had arrived and while everyone was having breakfast, they discussed what they were going to do.

"Well I need to get back to the solicitors because I'll probably have to sign more papers." Eggman said.

"We could go to Japan and look for Shadow and Knuckles can just wander around there." Sonic said but Zelgan shook her head.

"He has to stay here. If he goes back to Earth now, then there's not much I can do for him and he'll be in those casts for at least two months."

"Two months? I can't stay in a wheelchair for two months!" Knuckles complained.

"Of course you can't. But if you stay here for another two days then I can treat you properly and you can take off the casts then." Zelgan explained.

"Ok then, I'll stay. So are you three going down to Japan then?" He asked. Tails was trying to signal to Gelest and she finally understood what he wanted to do.

"I think that one of you should stay here with Knuckles. Me and Zelgan are out most days so he'll be pretty lonely." She suggested. Sonic unwittingly, managed to help them out.

"Why don't you stay here Rouge? It's Tails that wants to go to Japan and I'll look after him. I'm sure you don't want to spend the next few days with an ten year old eh?" She seemed to like the idea too.

"Ok I'll stay. You don't mind do you Knuckles?" He shook his head and Gelest noticed there was a glimmer of hope in his aura.

"Well now that's sorted out, we had better get going. I'm going for a fly to the beach. See you later." She took off her t-shirt and underneath was a bikini. She picked up a beach bag and flew away out of the window.

"We had better get going too." Eggman said. Zelgan stood up and showed them where their machines had been stored for the night.

Rouge and Knuckles watched as they flew away, wondering what was going to happen. Zelgan came back a moment later and told them to follow her.

"We'll start repairing your bones straight away." She said and they followed her to a room with a dentist's chair and several sharp instruments. Knuckles gulped hard and Zelgan smiled.

"Don't worry about the chair. It's just that I find it easier to mend bones when your legs are in front of you. The instruments are a little thing that Gelest added to try and scare people. Can you get him into the chair please?" She asked Rouge and she did so. Zelgan stood beside Knuckles placed her hands on both his legs.

"Right, I'm going to place a force field around the bones so they stay together. I can only do a little at a time though so your arm will have to wait until tomorrow." She closed her eyes and a light surrounded her hands. The light seeped into the casts and slowly his legs glowed too. The light from both her hands and his legs then faded and Zelgan opened her eyes.

"Phew, that was a bit tiring. I'm just going to have some sleep now ok?" She yawned and left the room.

"What shall we do now?" Rouge asked.

"I saw a lake yesterday that looked interesting. Maybe we could have a look at it." Knuckles suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea." She helped him into the wheelchair and they found the garden. They set off for the path that led to the lake and were soon talking about various things…

S. Chensu: Episode three done and things are heating up! Well not really, we've still got a long way to go until we've got to the end.

Luff: But it is good so stick with it. Seeing as we've written some of this already (at least half of it), we will be updating regularly.

S. Chensu: Hmm, I can't think of anything else to say… Apart from I don't want any complaints telling me that I've got the meaning of the Sphinx wrong because that is what the Egyptians believed. I looked it up in a big book and all.

Luff: You might be thinking of the Greek Sphinx, which is a bit different.

S. Chensu: I don't think there's anything else so please read and review!

Luff: And any flames will be used to add to Knuckles' long list of injuries.

Knuckles: Pokes head through side of screen Did you just say you wanted to burn me too?

Luff: Of course not, what do you take me for?

Knuckles: A sadist.

Luff: How rude!

S. Chensu Stands in between them Anyway, you should probably leave now but review before you do!

Luff: Yes, or Knuckles gets it!

Knuckles: Argh! Runs off side of screen, Luff chasing him with lit match in hand


	4. Of supreme swordsmen and sticky situatio

Luff: Hello peeps! You may or may not be pleased to know that I haven't actually set Knuckles on fire yet! But this matchstick is starting to burn my hand now. *chucks matchstick behind her*  
  
Knuckles: Argh! *Knuckles runs around with his arse on fire*  
  
Luff: Oops.  
  
S. Chensu: LUUUUUUUUFFFFF!  
  
Luff: Argh!  
  
S. Chensu: .Good work!  
  
Luff: Nani?  
  
Sonic: Look, are you going to stand there all day making up silly comments or are you actually going to get on with the episode?  
  
Luff: Uhh.  
  
Knuckles: Yes, yes!  
  
S. Chensu: OK! Shut up, everyone! This episode, Sonic and Tails go to Japan and meet some more well known characters, and a surprise one just for you! They also end up in Canada, with more of our favourite characters! There is also some stuff going on between Knux and Rouge, too, but nothing rude. Not yet. (Luff: Dammit!) So if you don't want to know who else will be appearing, don't read the disclaimer! Luff, if you would read the disclaimer.  
  
Luff: I always read it!  
  
S. Chensu: Pwease? Pwetty pwetty pwease?  
  
Luff: Oh, fine then.  
  
S. Chensu: Yay! *Hugs her sister*  
  
Luff: Okey dokey. *Takes a deep breath* We do not own any of the characters in this story apart from Zelgan and Gelest. And Bruce. Marth and Roy are © of Nintendo (we think), Yoda is © George Lucas, and Link and Zelda are © Nintendo. I think that's it. oh, wait, there's also a line from the Lord of the Rings in there! See if you can spot it! Wow, that one was short!  
  
S. Chensu: Yeah, too right it was! It should be longer!  
  
Tails: Look, this introduction is already long enough as it is! *Gags Luff and S. Chensu* There, that's better! Now, on with the episode!  
  
Note: . Telekinetic power  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Episode four: Of supreme swordsmen and sticky situations  
  
Sonic and Tails flew to Japan and landed in the Kitsumi Park. They hid the Tornado in the trees and set off for the city centre. It was very busy and soon they were being swept along the road with the crowd.  
  
"Tails, I think you'd better hold my hand, otherwise, we'll lose each other." Sonic shouted but when no reply came, he looked around in a panic. Tails had disappeared! "Tails, Tails where are you?" He called out.  
  
"Sonic, don't go so fast, I can't keep up with you!" Tails shouted and Sonic turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. Sonic grabbed him by the wrist.  
  
"Hold on Tails, I'm going to try and get out of this!" He ran through the crowd and soon they were standing in front of the Imperial Palace.  
  
"Wow Sonic, this is the Imperial Palace! Who did Banjo and Kazooie say would be here?" Tails asked.  
  
"Marth and Roy, whoever they are." Sonic replied.  
  
"You don't know who Marth and Roy are? They're only the best swordsmen in the whole of Japan!" They saw a small boy standing in front of them.  
  
"Do you know where they will be?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Of course I do. They'll be training around the back like they always do at this time of day." He led them around the back of the palace and they saw a training ground where two people were having a sword fight.  
  
When they saw Sonic and Tails looking at them, they stopped and walked up to them. The taller one wore blue clothes while the smaller one wore blue as well but he had white trousers and red hair.  
  
"Hello blue hedgehog and Kitsune. Were you looking for us?" The taller one asked.  
  
"We're looking for Marth and Roy. We were told by Banjo and Kazooie that they could help us in our quest." Tails said.  
  
"Well I'm Marth and this is Roy. Banjo and Kazooie eh? We haven't talked to them in ages. How are they doing?" The taller one said.  
  
"They were doing fine when we left two days ago. We should introduce ourselves. I'm Sonic and this is Tails." Sonic said.  
  
"Are you thirsty?" Roy asked and they nodded their heads. "Come and have some tea with us and you can tell us about your quest." He sheathed his sword and they followed Marth and Roy out of the ground.  
  
They entered a room with a low table and they sat at it.  
  
"Bruce, could you get us some tea please?" Marth asked the boy and he left. He came back a few moments later with a pot of tea. When everyone had a cup, they started talking.  
  
"So what's this about a quest?" Marth asked.  
  
"We're looking for a friend of ours who's on Earth but we don't know where he is, so we were told that if we ever came here we should ask you for help." Sonic explained.  
  
"What does he look like?" Roy asked.  
  
"He's a black hedgehog with red highlights in his hair." Tails said.  
  
"How many other countries have you been to?" Roy asked.  
  
"Three. Antarctica, Brazil and Egypt. Have you actually seen him then?" Sonic persisted.  
  
"No. We aren't going to bother looking either because we go and look around the mountains where most people turn up." Marth said and Sonic and Tails sighed.  
  
"At least that's another country down." Tails said. They finished their tea and Sonic stood up.  
  
"Thank you for talking to us anyway. Come Tails, we had better get going."  
  
"Wait a minute. You've only been here for a short time. Why don't you stay for a few more hours and we'll show you some sites?" Roy suggested.  
  
"We may as well Sonic. I would really like to see some of the technology here." Tails pleaded and Sonic gave in.  
  
"Ok Tails we'll stay. Where is the best place to see your technology?" Sonic asked and Marth and Roy thought for a moment.  
  
"Let's go to the Ginza district. It has the best shops and restaurants." Marth said and they followed him.  
  
When they finally arrived at the district, Tails eyes widened in delight. He started grinning madly and he looked very strange.  
  
"Tails are you ok?" Sonic asked worried.  
  
"I've only just remembered what technology and machines do to me." He giggled and ran down to the road.  
  
"Oh how could I forget about that?" Sonic whacked his head.  
  
"Forget about what?" Roy asked exasperated.  
  
"Tails has some sort of condition that makes him go hyper whenever he sees a large amount of machinery together!" Sonic ran after Tails and Roy and Marth followed hurriedly.  
  
"Tails slow down! Be careful! Wait a minute, please!" They heard Sonic shout at various points and they soon caught up with him. They saw Tails running across the road in excitement and cars had to stop and a jam was being created. He decided to stop at the other side of the road and he continued running down.  
  
"Where have they gone?" Roy asked, looking around.  
  
"Just listen to the shouting and they'll be there." Marth replied.  
  
"Oy you, what do you think you're doing?" They heard someone yell out.  
  
"This way!" Marth shouted and they set off in the direction where the voice came from.  
  
"Roy, Marth thank god I've found you!" They heard Sonic cry out and he appeared in front of them. "I have an idea but I need your help. Do you know somewhere with lots of machinery and a large glass door at the front?"  
  
"Yeah the Kismet. What's your idea?" Roy asked.  
  
"I'm going to try and attract Tails to it and hopefully he'll be so insane that he will knock himself out trying to go through the door!" Roy and Marth nodded their heads and they set off to help change the direction of Tails.  
  
"Tails come this way! I know a great place!" Sonic shouted to Tails and he stopped. This meant that the three of them could catch up with him.  
  
They found him twitching and looking around as though he couldn't keep still. Sonic grabbed his hand before he could run off again and pointed down the road.  
  
"Down there is the Kismet, the biggest technology centre in Tokyo. Why don't we go there?" Tails had been wriggling hard and as soon as Sonic had finished, he started dragging Sonic along the road. Sonic dug his heels in though, and he was forced to walk normally.  
  
When he saw the building though, nothing, not even Sonic, could stop him from running towards the door. Sonic remembered just in time to let go of his hand and as he did so, Tails sped off. Sonic and the others walked after Tails and found him lying flat on the floor.  
  
"That's sorted him out at least. I don't know what I'm going to do with him though." Sonic said.  
  
"Come back to where we live and you can stay for the night. I'll carry him." Marth suggested and picked Tails up.  
  
They walked along many a road until they reached a temple. They entered it and were met by numerous people sword fighting.  
  
"This is the school where we train people. He can stay in one of the empty bedrooms and you can spend the afternoon watching us train if you want." Roy said as Marth found a room for Tails. "We could give you a lesson as well if you want."  
  
"We had better go and see master Yoda first though." Marth added when he arrived. They left this room and found Yoda in a room meditating (Note: I won't bother describing him, coz you all know what he looks like and if you don't, shame on you!).  
  
"Ah, come back Marth and Roy have at last." Yoda said in his usual fashion.  
  
"Greetings Yoda, this is Sonic. He's spending the afternoon with us until his friend wakes up." Marth said and Yoda opened his eyes.  
  
"Sonic you are?" Sonic nodded his head in amazement. "Swordsmen you want to become?"  
  
"I don't think I could learn all there is to know about sword fighting in an afternoon." Sonic admitted.  
  
"Feel the Force and you can do anything." Was all he would say before he closed his eyes.  
  
They left the room and entered a garden where they sat down on a bench.  
  
"Does he always act like that?" Sonic asked, extremely puzzled by the conversation that had just gone on.  
  
"He may talk weird but he is very wise. Where are you going to go now?" Roy asked.  
  
"Hmm.Canada I think. It depends on how one of my friends is feeling. He had a little accident and currently can't do much travelling so it's just me and Tails at the moment." Sonic said.  
  
"Did you say Canada? I think you had better learn some sword skills then. Link lives there, an old friend of ours but he won't talk to you unless you at least know the basic moves." Marth left and came back with padding and a sword.  
  
"We'll teach you some fencing moves so you can show him some fancy stuff." They put the padding on Sonic and by the time they were finished, Sonic felt very stupid and he had trouble moving too.  
  
"Are you sure this is all necessary?" He asked.  
  
"Yes." Marth gave him the sword and Sonic saw it had a cork on the end.  
  
"How am I meant to hurt you if there's no point?" He asked.  
  
"We're not going to let you try and stab us right from the beginning." Marth said and he took out his fencing sword while Roy called out instructions.  
  
"You have to start in the on-guard position. Stand with your right foot in front and have your left arm curved upwards by your side. Cross your sword over Marth's and point it slightly upwards." Sonic did so and felt very stupid. "Ok the first thing you should learn is the 'passado'. It's a forward thrust and you just stab forward with the sword." Sonic did so and he hit Marth in the middle of his chest.  
  
"Well done! Now you should learn the 'punto reverso'. It's a back handed blow and you have to swing the sword in front of you to the right." Sonic did this as well.  
  
"Now the 'hay'. This is a stab to the heart. Just aim your sword at the heart area." Roy said and Sonic did this too.  
  
They spent the afternoon teaching him more moves and soon he knew the lunge, parry, feint and Preinitiative Tempo too. By now, Sonic was very tired and when he was told he could stop now, he collapsed on the ground. He took off all of the padding and breathed in the cool air.  
  
"Thanks for teaching me these moves you two." He said.  
  
"No problem. Do you want something to eat now because dinner will be ready in a few minutes? You can wake up Tails too if you want." They put the equipment away and led him to where Tails was.  
  
He had already woken up and smiled when he saw them.  
  
"Thanks for stopping me go insane there. I think from now on, I'm going to stay away from Japan or at least from the machines." He got out of bed and followed them down to dinner. Dinner was very enjoyable and Sonic told Tails all about the moves he had learned.  
  
"You learned to fence? Wow, that's so cool! Can you show me some of the moves you've learnt?" He asked.  
  
"Even better than that, you can watch him have a match with me." Marth promised. Sonic gulped but seeing Tails' face he smiled tightly.  
  
"I can? Great, this is going to be fun!" Tails said excitedly.  
  
"Fight you Marth? Very brave of you to accept Sonic. Marth great fighter." This could only come from Yoda who had overheard what Marth had said.  
  
When dinner had finished, they went to a room, which was like a stadium. It had seats going up on either side and in the middle was a field where the stage was. Roy helped Sonic put the padding back on and gave him the sword he used before while Marth also got ready. The whole school had come to watch and were waiting excited to see the match between one of the masters and a stranger.  
  
"I need to explain the stage quickly. This line is where you start from, called the on-guard line. This line here is the warning line and if you cross it, you have about a metre before you end up off the stage. This is the centre line which you have to try and cross. Basically, you have to hit the opponent a certain number of times without being hit yourself or ending up of the stage. Well, good luck Sonic, I'm sure you'll do well." Roy walked off and sat down at the front with Yoda and Tails.  
  
Sonic walked up to the on-guard line and stood in the correct position. The referee stood at the centre line.  
  
"The match is between Sonic the hedgehog and Marth of the Jitu house. This will be a five-point fight. The match starts now!" He backed away and the fight started.  
  
The two people parried for a while, testing out each other's defence when Marth lunged. Sonic, not expecting this was forced to move back and lost his concentration. He was hit on the chest and the referee confirmed the point. Not wanting to lose, Sonic increased his attacking and managed to score a point too. The lunge had hit Marth harder than Sonic meant it too but now that he had weakened Marth's defence, Sonic saw his chance to win. He scored another point but from there onwards, Marth attacked relentlessly. The score was three-two to Marth and Sonic was getting tired. It was therefore easy for Marth to score the last two points.  
  
"The match ends and Marth wins!" The referee shouted out and Sonic collapsed on the ground and started gasping. He looked up and saw Marth holding out his hand.  
  
"You are a most worthy fighter Sonic. I enjoyed that fight." Sonic took his hand and stood up. Sonic took off his mask and so did Marth.  
  
"Thanks for the fight. I don't mind losing, you're a great swordsman." Sonic said and they shook hands. The whole school started cheering and they waved to them.  
  
"Very well you fight, Sonic. Do good here, you would." Yoda said when he had reached them.  
  
"Sonic, you were great! And when you hit Marth right in the heart." Tails gushed. Marth rubbed his chest and winced.  
  
"Yeah, I can still feel it now." Roy laughed at his pain.  
  
"It's been a long time since someone hit you eh?"  
  
They left the room and Roy showed Sonic a room next to Tails', where he could sleep.  
  
"I assume you're going tomorrow?" Roy asked.  
  
"Yes, we had better get on." Sonic replied.  
  
"Well, find us before you go. We will be up already training. We have something to give you, too." Roy left and Sonic sank down into his bed, fast asleep.  
  
The next morning, Sonic was woken up by the clanging of swords and shouting. He got out of bed and went outside to see Marth and Roy fighting with Tails watching.  
  
"Morning Sonic! Look at them two go, they've been going like that for half an hour already." Tails greeted Sonic and he sat down next to him. Marth and Roy were trading blows at an extraordinary rate yet they managed to dodge most of them. They soon stopped though and Roy sat down on the bench while Marth walked off.  
  
"Phew, that was tiring! Sonic, you must have done something to him, he's working harder than before!" Roy exclaimed. Marth had now come back and he gave Sonic a sword.  
  
"Here is your present. It's the foil that you used yesterday. There's also a sheath that goes with it." And Marth handed that over too. It was blue, just like Sonic and there were swirling gold patterns wrapped around it.  
  
"Wow, thanks Marth! And thank you for letting us staying here and helping me to deal with Tails." Sonic said.  
  
"No problem. Is it ok if we see you off?" Marth asked.  
  
"Of course. We left the Tornado in the Kitsumi Park." Tails replied and they walked to the entrance where they met Yoda.  
  
"Farewell, Sonic. May the force be with you."  
  
"And you too." Sonic replied and they set off for the Kitsumi Park.  
  
Sonic and Tails climbed into the Tornado and they waved goodbye to Marth and Roy.  
  
"Let's go to Canada! I'm ready to fight this Link person." Sonic said and Tails directed the Tornado to Canada.  
  
************************  
  
They soon found the lake and Rouge placed Knuckles beside a bench and she sat on it so they were level. Although they had talked on the way to the lake, there wasn't much more polite conversation they could make. They both stared in silence at the lake and it remained like this for what seemed like an age.  
  
"There they are! Doesn't look like they're saying anything though. This could get boring." Gelest sighed as she settled herself on a branch in a tree behind them.  
  
"Did you just hear something?" Knuckles suddenly asked and he looked around to the tree. Rouge did the same and Knuckles stared for several minutes at the tree. He finally turned back again and sighed. "Must have been my imagination."  
  
"I wonder where Sonic and Tails are now?" Rouge asked.  
  
"In Japan I assume. Sonic is probably trying to calm Tails down or trying to knock him out." Knuckles laughed.  
  
"Eh?" Rouge was totally confused.  
  
"When they said they were going to Japan this morning and Sonic said that Tails would be the only one who would want to go I tried to think why. Then I suddenly remembered that Japan is famed for its technology and how Tails reacts to it." Knuckles explained.  
  
"I assume it's not a good thing." Rouge commented.  
  
"Technology makes him go high and he usually runs round like a headless chicken when he does." Knuckles grinned at the thought and even Rouge chuckled.  
  
"I can just image it." Her eyes widened. She took a deep breath and turned to Knuckles. "Knuckles, can I ask you something?" They stared at each other for a few moments but he averted his eyes.  
  
"Yes?" He asked.  
  
"Do you think we'll ever find Shadow?" She asked seriously.  
  
"Of course we will. There aren't many more places we will have to look once Sonic and Tails get back. They're probably going to Canada after Japan."  
  
"How did you know they're going to Canada?" Rouge asked suspiciously.  
  
"I think Sonic mentioned it to me. Anyway, after that it's just Australia and.what's the other place?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"How could you forget? It's Italy." She replied and suddenly Knuckles remembered what Italy was famed for. He went a lovely shade of scarlet and coughed.  
  
"Oh yeah, how could I forget?" He whispered and fell into silence. ~ Maybe that would be a good time to tell her.~ He thought to himself.  
  
"Ah how sweet. What's this? Rouge is going to tell him something important, I can feel it." Gelest whispered to herself.  
  
"Knuckles can I tell you something? Something I've never told anyone before?" Rouge suddenly said. Knuckles looked at her puzzled and this time, he stared straight at her.  
  
"What it is?" He asked concerned.  
  
"I need to tell you something important.about how I feel." She stumbled and she looked really embarrassed. Knuckles remained quiet though and after a pause, she continued. "I feel.I mean.I really.I really li-" But just then, Gelest heard crashing in the trees.  
  
"Damn her! She had to come just then, didn't she?" Gelest cursed Zelgan as she appeared by the lake.  
  
"Hi you two, it's getting a bit dark now so I thought I'd finish your legs off Knuckles, if that's all right." She saw the look on Rouge's face. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" She asked.  
  
"No, nothing." Rouge said hurriedly and she pushed Knuckles back to the house with Zelgan walking beside them. Gelest set off into the air so she could reach the house before them.  
  
By the time they had reached the house, Gelest had settled herself down in the kitchen and was eating an apple. She soon stopped though when they entered.  
  
"Zelgan, can I have a word with you please?" She asked sweetly.  
  
"Oh hello Gelest, of course you can. You two go to the rehabilitation room, I'll be there in a minute." She sat down at the table and Rouge and Knuckles left the room. As soon as the door was closed, Gelest exploded.  
  
"Zelgan, you don't realise what you've just done do you?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Don't you realise that they're in love? They haven't had the guts to tell each other until now and she was going to tell him and they could have been very happy except for you insisted on barging in on them!" She didn't trouble with keeping her voice down as she assumed they weren't outside the door.  
  
"Well, I'm sorry but I didn't know!" Zelgan was shocked.  
  
"How could you not know? It's so obvious!" She yelled out in frustration.  
  
"Don't you think you're over reacting?" Zelgan asked.  
  
"Over reacting? Over reacting? You can't see their emotions, so you can't tell how it's torturing both of them! I just want them to be happy that's all! I want them to have what I never had!" She burst into tears and stormed out of the room.  
  
Rouge and Knuckles who were standing outside, were trying to hear what was happening. They could only catch snatches of conversation though. 'To tell each other', 'she was going to', 'barging in', 'you can't see their emotions' and 'want them to be happy'. When they heard Gelest storm towards the door though, Rouge quickly pushed Knuckles to the rehabilitation room and they entered the door just as Gelest ran down the corridor in tears.  
  
"What's wrong with her?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"I don't know. I wonder what that conversation was about?" Rouge asked but as they didn't know the answers, they waited until Zelgan appeared. She entered the room looking troubled but at Knuckles and Rouge's puzzled looks she smiled hurriedly.  
  
"I suppose you heard most of that eh? She shouted loud enough for people on Earth to hear no doubt."  
  
"No, we just saw her running down the corridor and we wondered if she's ok." Rouge said.  
  
"Yeah, she just got a bit upset that's all. It happens sometimes, especially after." But she stopped. She shrugged her shoulders. "Never mind. Let's get this over and done with, I'm sure you want to talk alone." Rouge helped Knuckles onto the chair again and Zelgan laid her hands on his legs.  
  
She concentrated for a moment and then straightened up.  
  
"It looks like the force field has worked very well. I just need to strengthen the new bone between the break so it won't snap when you take your casts off. This will take a bit more time though so be prepared to wait." She laid her hands on his legs and suddenly, Knuckles felt a stabbing pain in his leg. He yelped and Zelgan's focus was broken.  
  
"I'm sorry. It's just that I didn't expect that to happen." Knuckles apologised.  
  
"No don't worry about it. I should have told you that you would be able to feel your bones re-growing. Just grab onto something if it hurts, which it probably will do." She smiled and closed her eyes again.  
  
The pain came back again, only this time more painful. He took Zelgan's advice and grabbed the first thing he could. Only he didn't expect it to be Rouge's hand. She didn't shake him off though and she even gripped his hand tighter. He smiled and leant his head against the back of the chair. The pain gradually grew worse as his grip on Rouge's hand tightened but she never said anything. She just looked concerned for Knuckles, which Zelgan noticed out of the corner of her eye.  
  
~I may as well get the screaming over and done with.~ She thought to herself and she concentrated all of her efforts.  
  
"ARRRGH!" Knuckles screamed out and then it stopped. Zelgan opened her eyes as she tried to get her breath back again. Knuckles looked like he was just about to faint.  
  
"You all right there?" She asked lightly and when Knuckles didn't reply she smiled. "I take that as a yes. Sorry I had to do that, otherwise you would have been sitting here for the next four or five hours." But Knuckles hadn't even moved. "Knuckles, are you all right?" She asked and she took a closer look at him.  
  
It turned out that he had fainted but she just shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"I kind of expected him to do that. Will you be all right with him here? I need to go and find Gelest. I should be able to talk to her now without her biting my head off." She laughed and as she left the room, she noticed that Rouge was still holding Knuckles' hand.  
  
Knuckles stirred a few minutes later and when Rouge saw him, she quickly let go of his hand. He woke up and looked around.  
  
"What happened? I just remember, actually, I don't want to remember that." He frowned.  
  
"You just fainted that's all. Come on, I don't know about you but I'm hungry." She helped him back in the chair and they set off for the kitchen. They entered it and saw Zelgan making a pot of tea.  
  
"Awake at last is he? Do you want some tea?" They both nodded their heads and Zelgan poured out three mugs. She placed them on the table and everyone took theirs. The door opened again and Gelest appeared.  
  
"Zelgan I.oh hello you two, I didn't realise you were here." She looked closely at them but she couldn't discern anything. "I'll come back later." She opened the door but stopped.  
  
Zelgan had sent a thought to Gelest.  
  
"Was there? Hmm.you'll have to tell me in a minute. Anyway, I came to apologise to you. And to give you this." She walked over to the table and let the object fall to it. It was a white feather.  
  
"Gelest, you didn't need to do that! Are you ok?" She asked worriedly. Gelest laughed.  
  
"Yes just a bit sore. You'd better take it or I might have to hit you!" She joked and Zelgan took the feather and put it in her hair.  
  
"I haven't had one of these in such a long time that I thought you had forgotten about the promise. But then, you haven't really."  
  
"Yeah, must have been about four months since the last one." Gelest commented. Rouge and Knuckles were completely confused by this conversation.  
  
"Do you two want to talk alone?" Rouge coughed. Zelgan turned to them and smiled apologetically.  
  
"I forgot you were here for a moment. You can stay; Gelest and me will talk later. Now then, I suppose you will want something to eat?"  
  
"I must admit, I am a bit hungry." Knuckles said. Zelgan got up and started dinner. Soon they were all sat at the table eating food.  
  
"Zelgan, can I ask you something?" Rouge asked and Zelgan nodded. "What is the white feather for?" Zelgan frowned and turned to Gelest.  
  
"It's a promise I made to Zelgan a long time ago. I told her that if I ever had one of my fits, I would give her one of my feathers." Gelest explained.  
  
"Doesn't that hurt?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"Of course it does. That's the whole point. I can remember at the beginning, I had so many fits that I nearly went bald." Zelgan and Gelest laughed but Gelest stopped quickly. She looked sad at that memory so Rouge quickly changed the conversation.  
  
"I don't suppose you've heard from Sonic or Tails have you?" She asked.  
  
"No but I do know that they will be back tomorrow, quite late." Zelgan said. Gelest stood up and stretched.  
  
"Well I don't know about you but I'm tired so I'm going to bed." She put her plate in the sink on top of a very large pile of dishes and left the room.  
  
"That's typical of her to leave me to do the dishes! And look at how much there is!" Zelgan stood up and searched the cupboards for washing up liquid.  
  
"I'll help if you want to." Rouge said and she stood up.  
  
"Oh thank you for volunteering. Are you going to be all right there Knuckles?" Zelgan asked. Knuckles nodded his head and Rouge and Zelgan set themselves to the task of washing the dishes.  
  
An hour later, they had finished the washing and Zelgan sat down exhausted.  
  
"I didn't realise that a sink could hold so many dishes. At least I can see the bottom of it now." She stood up and walked to the entrance. "I'm going to bed too. See you tomorrow. And before you leave, can you turn off the light please?" Zelgan left the room.  
  
"I think that's a good idea. All the events of today have tired me out. Come on Knuckles. Knuckles?" She looked at Knuckles and saw that he had already fallen asleep.  
  
She took the wheelchair and pushed him slowly out of the room. She turned the light out and set off for his room. She entered it and managed to get him into bed without him waking up.  
  
"Goodnight Knuckles." She whispered and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before hurrying out of the room. The door closed and Knuckles opened his eyes. Although it was dark his grin was evident as he tried to get to sleep.  
  
************************  
  
They landed in Canada by Lake Ontario and got out to have a look around.  
  
"I can't see anyone around here. Maybe we should shout and see if he appears." Sonic suggested.  
  
"Why don't we have a look in those trees over there?" Tails pointed to them and Sonic shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Ok then." They set off for the trees and entered them. The sun was shining through the gaps in them and dust was dancing in the air.  
  
"Who goes there?" Someone shouted out and a man jumped out of a tree.  
  
The man wore a green tunic and floppy hat, white clothes underneath, boots and gloves. But the most noticeable thing was the sword and shield he carried. He stood in front of them with his sword at Sonic's throat.  
  
"My name is Sonic. Please don't kill me!" Sonic squeaked.  
  
"Why are you here?" He asked.  
  
"We're looking for Link and Zelda. We were told to find them if we ever came here." He replied.  
  
"Who told you this?"  
  
"Marth and Roy. Hang on a minute, why am I scared of you? If you're a real swordsman you'd give me fight!" Sonic pushed the sword away and stared at him.  
  
"I like your attitude! I don't think you would want to fight me. My name is Link and if Marth and Roy told you about me then you must be trustworthy." He sheathed his sword and held out his hand.  
  
"Excuse me, where is Zelda?" Tails asked.  
  
"I'll get her in a minute. But what is your name and what are you two doing here?" He asked.  
  
"My name is Tails. Me and Sonic are looking for a friend of ours and we thought we would ask you for your help." Tails explained. Link jumped up into the tree and a few moments later he came back down with a woman.  
  
She wore a long pink dress, with gold around the shoulders. She was very pale and had long blonde hair. She looked very wise and had a gold circlet on her head.  
  
"Hello Sonic and Tails. I'm sorry about Link; he's very suspicious of strangers. Won't you come up?" She asked.  
  
"We would love to but we're in a bit of a hurry. We just wanted to know whether you had seen our friend or not." Sonic said.  
  
"What does he look like?" She asked.  
  
"He's a hedgehog, black with red highlights." Sonic replied.  
  
"No we haven't seen anyone of that description. You can't go back now to Kikuyu, they're not expecting you until tonight." Zelda said.  
  
"How do you know that?" Tails was astounded.  
  
"I have seen it. If you won't stay here then I suggest you go to Toronto and visit the Eaton Centre. It's a great place for tourists." She suggested.  
  
"That sounds like a good idea. Well, thank you for not killing us anyway." Sonic turned away.  
  
"Before you go, you'll want to know who'll you see in Italy won't you?" Zelda asked. "Ask for Mario and Luigi." She then walked up to Tails and whispered to him, "Your plan will go very well. I can see that while you were away, it has gone further than it would have done if you had remained." She then walked over to Sonic.  
  
"Beware of the ones you know. And be careful how you look at other people." She disappeared in a whirl of colour.  
  
"Has she been giving you bits of advice?" Link laughed. "Listen to what she has to say. She has a knack of knowing what will happen. Enjoy your time in Toronto." He jumped up into the tree and they were left alone.  
  
"That was interesting." Sonic commented. They walked out of the woods and hopped back into the Tornado. They flew to the centre of Toronto and landed on top of the Eaton Centre.  
  
"Wow, this place is huge!" Tails said as he jumped out. They walked to the entrance and entered.  
  
The number of people who were in there immediately hit them. Sonic and Tails walked forward and they appeared in a food court.  
  
"Oh Sonic, can we get some chilli dogs?" Tails said.  
  
"Yeah, why not? I could do with something to eat." They queued up and bought a dozen each. They sat down and ate them. By the end, they were pretty stuffed.  
  
"That was good!" Sonic said as he patted his stomach.  
  
"Sonic, let's go and have a look around." So they got up and looked at a map. "I never realised you could get so many shops in this sort of space." Tails looked at the map and his eyes widened when he saw that there was a theme park here. "There's even a theme park here, Sonic!" Sonic looked to where Tails was pointing.  
  
"Well what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Sonic ran off with Tails close behind him.  
  
They heard the shouts long before they saw the park and when they arrived they gasped in awe. There were many rides but in the middle was the best roller coaster they had ever seen. It had two loop the loops and three corkscrews. They stood at the end of the queue and after what seemed like an age, they managed to get onto the front seats.  
  
"Here we go!" Sonic shouted as the ride started. His excitement soon turned to horror though after the first loop when he realised that he had just eaten 12 chilli dogs. Tails was already looking green and they were concentrating on not being sick so much to notice that the ride had finished. They ran off and found a toilet. Anyone who had been there at the time would have been able to hear retching noises, as Sonic and Tails were being violently sick.  
  
They soon came out and leant against the sinks, as they were exhausted. They managed to grin at each other after a few moments and they walked out of the toilets.  
  
"Next time I want to do something like that you stop me ok?" Sonic said and Tails laughed. They settled on having some chips instead to make up for the lost food and they spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around, remembering the good times. They ended up back at the entrance and saw that it was getting dark.  
  
"We had better go back now, the others will worry about us." Tails said so they climbed back up to the roof and set off for Kikuyu.  
  
************************  
  
Gelest entered the kitchen in the morning and saw Zelgan cooking breakfast.  
  
"Morning Gelest. I've cooked some sausages, tomatoes and nice crispy bacon." She said in a strange West Country accent.  
  
"Hi Zelgan, so then what were you going to tell me?" She asked as she poured herself a glass of orange juice.  
  
"In the rehabilitation room, I had to fix Knuckles' bones-" Zelgan started but Gelest interrupted her.  
  
"Poor old thing, I can still remember the pain of it-"  
  
"Anyway, as you know, it's a bit painful so I suggested that Knuckles should hold onto something. And guess what? It turned out to be Rouge's hand! And she didn't seem to mind either." Zelgan gossiped and Gelest grinned.  
  
"I think we're getting there. I must tell Tails when he gets back."  
  
"What has Tails got to do with this?" Zelgan asked.  
  
"He's the one who told me about it in the first place. I've been helping him with his plan. He hasn't really told me about the rest of it though. I assume it's for when they start to travel again." Just then Rouge entered with Knuckles.  
  
"Morning you two. Are you ready for more bone fixing?" Zelgan asked Knuckles and seeing his panicked look, she laughed.  
  
"Don't do that Zelgan, that's just cruel." Gelest scolded.  
  
"And this is coming from you." Zelgan pointed out. "I will have to do your arm but it'll be less painful. For a start off there's only one arm and it's smaller. But I think you should have some breakfast first." They did so and afterwards they headed for the rehabilitation room. Knuckles looked like he was going to be sick.  
  
"Don't worry, I have to do the same thing as I did for your legs. They won't be fixed properly unless I put the force field around it." Zelgan explained and Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
She closed her eyes and light appeared around her hands as it did before. The light seeped into the cast and she opened her eyes. She quickly checked his legs as well.  
  
"It looks like the casts can come off today. Now then, where has Gelest got to?" Just as she said this Gelest appeared holding a sharp cutting tool.  
  
"Is this the one?" She asked as she entered the room.  
  
"Yep, that's it. Right then Knuckles, this will cut the cast off. Keep still or I might cut you by accident." Zelgan explained and she turned it on. The blade started to spin around and she started to cut the cast.  
  
Ten minutes later, in which Knuckles had been craning his neck and Gelest had been grinning, they were off.  
  
"Before you do anything I need to tell you some stuff. First of all don't do any strenuous exercise and leave stairs for today too. Apart from that, you should be ok." Zelgan went to exit the room but Gelest wrinkled her nose.  
  
"Ugh, the wonderful smell of skin which has been enclosed for two days. I have my own advice to give: have a wash. The bathroom is just along the corridor from where you're sleeping. Have a good day you two, I need to do some stuff. Come Zelgan, you never finished telling me about what you found out." And with that, Gelest left the room with Zelgan and Knuckles and Rouge were left behind.  
  
"Shall we go and have a look then? I must admit, I do need a shower." Rouge said and she walked to the door. Knuckles lifted himself out of the chair and took a few tentative steps. He didn't fall over so he followed Rouge. They went up the lift and at the end of the corridor they found the bathroom.  
  
They entered the bathroom and it was made up of a large bath with hooks for towels etc. They also found a cupboard full of the usual bathroom stuff. But as there was only one bath, they weren't sure what to do. So they stood there undecided.  
  
"Do you want to go first?" Rouge finally said.  
  
"You can go first if you want." Knuckles replied and at this, Rouge sighed.  
  
"Right, you're going first or I'll break your legs again!" She threatened and Knuckles gulped.  
  
"Ok, ok, I'm going first." He got into the bath and looked around.  
  
"You might need this." Rouge said as she handed him a towel. He hung it over the edge of the bath and leant forward to turn the taps on. Rouge turned away and sat down, staring at the wall. There was the sound of running water for a few minutes and then it stopped.  
  
"Um Rouge? Could you pass me some soap please?" Knuckles asked and Rouge unwrapped a new bar. But just as she was about to pass it to him, she squeezed it too hard and it flew out of her hand, landing on the other side of the bath, hitting Knuckles square on the nose on the way.  
  
"Ow!" He rubbed his nose, trying to make it feel better. Rouge sighed and she bent over to get it. As she did though, her assets (Note: her cleavage, not her knockers!) were right in front of Knuckles' face. His eyes crossed and he couldn't help staring. She looked up and noticed his face. Her immediate reaction was to make a nasty comment to him, as she used to.  
  
"Oy you pervert, don't you dare look at me like that! And also the other day, what did you think you were doing, holding my hand? You're pathetic, trying to attract me like that! Did you think I really liked you?" She shouted. Knuckles looked shocked but then his face hardened.  
  
"So that's what you think of me eh? I actually thought that you were all right but now I know the truth! No wonder you're so ugly, it's to remind people not to like you!" He retaliated and got out of the bath. He dried himself quickly before storming out of the room, slamming the door.  
  
"I'm ugly am I? Well it's lucky that I didn't tell him about my feelings then." She said to herself before emptying the bath and refilling it so she could have one.  
  
************************  
  
"What was that?" Gelest said as she heard the door slam. She stopped walking and watched as Knuckles entered the garden.  
  
"And she has the cheek to assume I liked her!" She heard him say loudly. She walked over slowly and as she got closer, she could feel Knuckles' anger.  
  
"Are you ok Knuckles? You look all hot and bothered." She said. He spun around but when he realised it was her, he was suddenly cheerful.  
  
"No it's nothing. It's just that Rouge." At the mention of her name, he scowled.  
  
"What happened? Did she insult you?" Gelest asked.  
  
"You could say that." He said before walking off. Gelest suddenly realised what had occurred.  
  
"Oh no, Tails' plan is ruined! I have to get them to make up, even if it means." She said to herself. "I can't do it, Zelgan would kill me and it goes against my beliefs." She shook her head. "I'll see what happens before I do anything." She also walked away, deep in thought.  
  
***********************  
  
"We're back at last, I wonder what everyone's been doing?" Sonic announced as they landed by the mansion. They got out and walked towards the entrance.  
  
"Me too. I want to see how Knuckles is feeling." Tails said but added to himself, "Especially towards Rouge." The first person they saw was Gelest who was running towards them.  
  
"Hi you two, how did the trip go?" She asked.  
  
"We didn't find Shadow but we did see lots of sites." And Sonic explained what they had done as they walked towards the kitchen. When she heard about the chilli dogs, she laughed.  
  
"Well you certainly did a lot of things. Not much has happened here apart from Knuckles' leg casts have come off."  
  
"Really? So you mean we can go soon?" Tails asked.  
  
"Yep, you should be able to go tomorrow if nothing happens." She confirmed. They entered the kitchen and Sonic immediately rummaged through the cupboards. "You'll be all right for a moment won't you Sonic? I have to talk to Tails for a minute." She heard a grunt from Sonic so she beckoned Tails outside the room.  
  
"Tails something happened while you were gone." She explained the whole situation with Knuckles and Rouge. "And when I saw Rouge later on, she looked just as angry as Knuckles did. I'm not sure exactly what the argument was about, but they obviously have had one."  
  
"And they're both so stubborn! We may never be able to get them to apologise to each other." Tails wailed.  
  
"But there is one good thing that would occur because of this. If they really love each other, then they will make up. Your plan might still work but you may have to extend it slightly." Gelest said.  
  
"That's a point. Well thank you for telling me. We should be going to Italy next and hopefully the atmosphere will help them." He said.  
  
"Oh I wanted to tell you about keeping them two happy. Don't make them sit next to each other and when we have dinner, try not to ask them about what they did. The sooner they forget about this, the better." She explained. They walked back into the kitchen and saw Zelgan sitting at the table but Sonic had gone.  
  
"Where's Sonic?" Tails asked.  
  
"He said he was tired so I told him to have a nap and that you would call him when it's dinner. Gelest, what's wrong? You look worried." She asked concerned. Yet again, Gelest told her what had happened.  
  
"You don't say? This certainly has put a dent in your plan." She commented. She stood up and started to prepare dinner. "We can only hope that they'll make up soon." Just then, Knuckles entered the kitchen and they immediately stopped and looked at him. He sat down and stared at them.  
  
"Are you all right?" He asked and they started talking again.  
  
"So then Tails, what is this about chilli dogs? I didn't hear the whole conversation." Gelest quickly said.  
  
Tails told them about the chilli dogs and then retold the whole trip for Knuckles' benefit.  
  
"Sword fighting eh? I never really learned about that, I prefer the non armed methods of combat but it would be useful." He commented.  
  
"Do you know martial arts then?" Gelest asked interested.  
  
"I know a bit." Knuckles said.  
  
"A bit? You know more than a bit! He's what you would call an expert when it comes to fighting." Tails said and Knuckles went pink.  
  
"Oh yes, I wanted to tell you that the cast for your arm can come off tonight after-" Zelgan started but Knuckles interrupted her.  
  
"Oh please not the-" He whimpered.  
  
"Yes, it has to be done. You can wait until after dinner though if you want to." Knuckles nodded his head.  
  
"Um, what was that all about?" Tails asked Gelest.  
  
"Well, Zelgan has been fixing Knuckles' bones but it's a bit painful and he's scared after what happened with his legs." Gelest explained. "Nothing went wrong or anything but it was just the fact that it was two bones being fixed at once."  
  
"Oh I see. Before them two had the argument, how were they getting on?" Tails asked. Gelest glanced over at Knuckles, who looked interested in what they were talking about.  
  
"Why don't I help you put your machine away?" She said loudly and then added in an undertone, "I'll explain then."  
  
They left the kitchen and on the way to where Tails had left the Tornado, Gelest explained that they had been getting on very well with each other. Tails was now guiding the Tornado into the garage.  
  
"So you're saying that they could have told each other really soon? We were so close."  
  
"Yet so far." Gelest finished. They both sighed as Gelest closed the garage door. "I think dinner should be ready soon, why don't you go and get Sonic? And see if you can find Rouge at the same time." Gelest suggested before walking back to the kitchen. Tails walked up the stairs and saw that Sonic had just woken up.  
  
"I must have smelt the dinner in my sleep." Sonic laughed but seeing Tails' face he stopped. "What's wrong Tails?"  
  
"I may as well tell you." Tails said and thought, ~Seeing as you're so ignorant of the whole situation.~ He continued, "Rouge and Knuckles have had a big argument with each other. I'm not sure what it was about but they seem to hate each other now."  
  
"Why don't we ask them?" Sonic asked.  
  
"No, we can't do that! We need them to forget about it as soon as possible." Tails replied. "When we have dinner, we should make sure that they don't sit next to each other ok?" Sonic nodded his head and they entered the kitchen. They sat down on either side of Knuckles and dinner was served.  
  
"Where is Rouge?" Gelest asked Tails quietly.  
  
"I couldn't find her. Do you want me to look?" He asked.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll do it." Gelest replied before walking out of the room.  
  
She found Rouge sitting in her room, staring out of the window.  
  
"Rouge, dinner is ready." Gelest said and Rouge followed her to the kitchen. They entered it and Rouge sat down. Gelest did the same and they started eating.  
  
To pass the time, Tails and Sonic told Rouge what they had done in Japan and Canada. Although Rouge enjoyed what they said and laughed at the right points, she still managed to give Knuckles several withering glares, which if looks could kill, he would have left in a matchbox. He managed to glower at her too and when Sonic and Tails finished talking Sonic kept looking at the two of them.  
  
"That's it, I'm fed up of you two trying to kill each other with your looks. What's wrong?" He suddenly announced. When they didn't say anything though, he tapped the table with his fingers. "I'm waiting!" Just then a hand came down from the big computer in the sky and proceeded to strangle Sonic for several seconds before disappearing.  
  
"Sonic!" Gelest hissed but it didn't matter because Rouge and Knuckles hadn't heard his question. Sonic gave up on getting any answer from them two and instead helped Zelgan with the dishes.  
  
As soon as dinner finished Knuckles and Rouge both got up at the same time and Rouge got to the door just as Knuckles did. When she didn't move though, Knuckles pushed her out of the way and stalked out of the room. She gasped and then exited as well, going in the opposite direction to Knuckles.  
  
"I've just remembered that Knuckles has to have his arm fixed. I don't suppose you would go and find him please?" Zelgan asked Sonic and he got up.  
  
He went to his room and knocked on the door. When no reply came though, he opened the door and found Knuckles laying on his bed, deep in thought.  
  
"Err.Knuckles, you have to get your arm fixed." Sonic said. Knuckles turned his head and saw him. Sonic noticed he looked not angry now but sad. He stood up and followed Sonic out of the room. They met Zelgan and Tails at the bottom of the stairs. "Where's Gelest?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Oh, she's gone for a shower." Zelgan replied and the mention of showers and baths in general reminded Knuckles of what Rouge said. Although he was angry at what she had said, he had also been upset by her comments. Any hope of her liking him at all had now faded into oblivion and now he was just depressed. Zelgan led the way to the rehabilitation room and Knuckles got into the chair soundlessly.  
  
Sonic and Tails stayed, as they were interested in what actually happened. Zelgan started the process and was surprised when Knuckles didn't seem to react at all. Even when the cast was being cut off, he remained silent.  
  
"Knuckles, I've finished and your arm looks all right. Knuckles, are you ok?" Zelgan said. After repeating the question several times, and not getting an answer, she exited the room with Tails and Sonic. Knuckles seemed to wake up and when he saw his arm, he smiled a little but all he could think about was what Rouge had said to him.  
  
~Did you think I really liked you? Did you think I really liked you? Did you think I really liked you?~ Those words filled all of his thoughts and wiping a tear away, he exited the room.  
  
"Gelest, I think you should talk to Knuckles. After all, you are good with emotions." Zelgan told Gelest, who was sitting in the living room.  
  
"Sometimes it's better to leave people alone when they're upset." Gelest replied.  
  
"Yes but it's obviously not doing him any good. You didn't see him in there, he didn't move at all. He didn't even twitch when I was fixing his bone." Zelgan said. "I know, why don't you show him the Holus beach? I always go there when I'm sad."  
  
"Do you really think it will help?" Gelest sounded sceptical.  
  
"Of course it will. I think he's the type of person who likes natural beauty." Zelgan confirmed.  
  
"Then maybe I should go. I'll see what I can do." She stood up.  
  
"Thanks Gelest." Zelgan said.  
  
"No problem." She left the room and quickly changed into her costume before walking to Knuckles' room. She knocked on the door and when no reply came she opened it.  
  
The first thing she noticed was that the room was quite cold and soon realised why. The window was open and Knuckles was sat on the window ledge. Gelest walked over to him and sat on the ledge too.  
  
"Knuckles are you ok?" She asked gently. He turned to her and she could immediately feel the sadness in him. ~He really does love her.~ She thought to herself.  
  
"No. I don't really want to talk about it though." He replied.  
  
"Well I have an idea if you want to hear." He didn't say anything so she continued, "Whenever I feel upset or sad there's a place I go to. It's called Holus beach and if you want, I can show you where it is and you can think there. There's never anyone there so you'll be alone and I'll leave you there for a couple of hours until you want to go back again." She explained.  
  
"Are you sure?" He asked.  
  
"Yes. I want to help you, that's all. And I remembered that I would always go there if I wanted to think." She stood up and climbed onto the roof. He followed her and she opened her wings. "Can you fly?" She asked. He nodded his head. "That's good. It shouldn't take too long so just follow me." She jumped into the air and set off with Knuckles following her.  
  
They arrived at the beach and Gelest landed by the coast. Coconut trees on one side surrounded the beach and there was a jetty going out into the sea. Behind the coconuts was a jungle. Not far out into the sea was a tree- covered island. Fireflies filled the air and the only noise was the waves crashing onto the shore.  
  
~Ow, my back! I haven't gone this far for a long time.~ She thought as she walked out onto the jetty. Knuckles followed her and sat down on the edge. "You'll be all right here won't you?" She stretched her back to try and make it feel better. "I'll be on that island there ok? When you're finished here, just get up and wander around. I'll see you and you can go then." She jumped up again and started to flap her wings but she landed again wincing.  
  
"It looks like my back isn't taking any more punishment from me. Luckily I know a path that goes around the jungle which will take me a few hours." She started to walk to the trees.  
  
"Wait a minute Gelest! Can I talk to you?" Knuckles called out. Gelest smiled slightly and turned back. She sat down next to him and folded her wings away. She looked out and Knuckles did the same.  
  
There was silence for several minutes but Gelest knew he would speak soon.  
  
"I suppose you know how I feel?" He asked.  
  
"No. You love Rouge but as I have never felt love, I don't know how it feels." She explained.  
  
"It's strange. Even after what she said to me, I still love her. But I know she doesn't feel the same way."  
  
"How do you know?" She asked.  
  
"That's one of the things she told me. I know I was too assumptive though." He sighed.  
  
"She may have just reacted in the wrong way to something you did. Are you sure you don't do the same thing?"  
  
"Sometimes. And that's the worse thing. I insulted her too. Even if she did like me, she won't now." Gelest turned to him and saw that tears were running down his face.  
  
"Oh Knuckles, I'm sure she still loves you. You have to talk to her, it's the only way you'll find out." Knuckles wiped his face with his hand.  
  
"I can't. You saw her at dinner. Every time she looks at me, my insides freeze up." (Note from Luff: Ahhh, so sweet!)  
  
"Yes but that was then and this is now. In this sort of situation, time is the best healer. Just give her a few days. I should know, after all the times I was spiteful to Zelgan."  
  
"But you two always seem to get along." He replied.  
  
"Yeah, we do now but not a few years ago. I was under a lot of stress then so I would snap at her all the time." She explained.  
  
"What happened to get you stressed?" He asked.  
  
"It's just a phase I went through. We all do at some point and it would seem that Rouge is going through it now." She replied quickly. "The best thing to do is if she says or does anything nasty, just ignore her. In the end she'll be so fed up that she'll just start talking to you again." She suggested.  
  
"Thanks Gelest.for talking to me." He said quietly.  
  
"Hey, if I couldn't help, I'd be a bit useless." She laughed and stood up. "Hmm.my back should be ok now. Do you want to go now?" She asked. He nodded his head and followed her back into the sky.  
  
They arrived back at the mansion and landed in Knuckles' room. She closed the window and said good night before leaving the room. She fell into her bed fast asleep but Knuckles remained awake for several more hours, thinking about what Gelest had said.  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Luff: At last, the end of another (hopefully) exciting instalment of The STREKS gang!  
  
S. Chensu: Thank you to all those peeps out there who actually managed to read this thing the whole way through and not fall asleep!  
  
Luff: We promise that it will get more exciting later on! Much, much more exciting!  
  
Knuckles: Yeah, just as long as it doesn't involve me and Rouge.  
  
Luff: 0.o  
  
S. Chensu: ^-^;;  
  
Rouge: It does, doesn't it?  
  
Luff: Maybe.  
  
S. Chensu: Anyways, Read and Review! And any flames will be used as a threat for Knuckles! Knuckles: 0.o  
  
Luff: Mwaohahahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!  
  
Knuckles: Argh! Please R&R! 


	5. The curse of macaroni cheese

(Note: Sorry we haven't updated in ages but we've been away so as a special new year's treat, we're giving you two episodes at once. How exciting! And thank you to all our wonderful reviewers, you make our day!)  
  
Luff: Ok peeps, this episode isn't half as long as the last one, so you don't have to fall asleep!  
  
S. Chensu: Are they supposed to?  
  
Luff: Err.no idea! Anyways, this episode Sonic and co. are off to Italy! And guess what that means?  
  
Knuckles: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  
  
Sonic: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  
  
Luff: What are you saying NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! For?  
  
Sonic: Umm. *runs off side of screen*  
  
Luff: -_-;;  
  
S. Chensu: Yes, anyway, that means ^_^. Knuckles and Rouge are- *Eggman gags S. Chensu*  
  
Eggman: Shut up! You're giving the whole thing away!  
  
Yugi: Yeah!  
  
Everyone else: 0.o  
  
Yami: Yugi, you're in the wrong fic! C'mon! *Grabs Yugi and pulls him out of the screen*  
  
Luff: Umm, Kay.that was a bit weird. Anyways, the disclaimer! DON'T READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHO IS IN HERE! We do not own Mario or Luigi, they are © Nintendo, so is Bowser. If I haven't mentioned any other characters that I should've, we don't own them either. I think. We also don't own the songs 'Boom Boom' and 'All my life'. We do own the story though.  
  
S. Chensu: On with the story!!!  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Episode five: The curse of macaroni cheese  
  
Knuckles woke up the next morning feeling better and suddenly remembering that he no longer had any casts, he put his upgrades back on.  
  
"At last!" He practised some punches and when he was satisfied, he walked down the stairs. He entered the kitchen and saw that everyone was already eating breakfast. He glanced at Rouge but she was looking downwards.  
  
"Hello, up at last are you? We've been up for hours haven't we Gelest?" Zelgan said cheerfully.  
  
"Yes, unfortunately. I need to go back to bed." Gelest replied, yawning. Knuckles sat down and Sonic passed him a bowl of cereal.  
  
"So you're going today?" Zelgan asked.  
  
"Yes we had better. We had a great time here though and I want to thank you for letting us stay with you." Sonic said.  
  
"That's all right. Not much had been happening anyway. I hope the search for your friend goes well." Gelest replied.  
  
"Which reminds me.take this." Sonic passed over his communicator to Zelgan. "We'll call you when we find Shadow and maybe we'll come and visit again."  
  
"That would be nice. Thank you. But now I think you will have to go if you want to get to Italy before night fall." Zelgan said. They stood up and walked to the garage.  
  
They sat in the Tornado and Gelest was pleased to see that Knuckles and Rogue had stopped giving each other evil looks. They weren't actually talking though but it was a start.  
  
"Bye Zelgan, bye Gelest!" Tails called out as they flew away. They waved back and soon they were in space, heading for Italy.  
  
************************  
  
"Here at last!" Sonic announced as they landed by the Trevi fountain in Rome.  
  
"It's nearly night time! What are we going to do?" Tails asked.  
  
"Why don't we book some rooms in an hotel for the night and look for them in the morning?" Rouge suggested.  
  
"That would be a good idea apart from the fact that we have no money." Sonic pointed out.  
  
"Well it's lucky that I carry some plastic round with me eh?" Rouge replied. She flashed a credit card and they wandered around until they found the Hotel Alexandra. It was a three star hotel and was very stylish.  
  
They entered the lobby and Rouge walked up to the desk.  
  
"Do you have any rooms available for two nights?" She asked. The receptionist tapped a few keys on the computer in front of him.  
  
"Yes we do. How many rooms will you be wanting and will they be single or double beds?" He asked.  
  
"Two rooms please, both of them with single beds." She replied. He tapped a few more keys.  
  
"Would you like them to be next door to each other?"  
  
"If that is possible, yes please." More keys were pressed.  
  
"How will you be paying?" She handed over the credit card and the rooms were paid for. "Dinner is from 7-10 pm and breakfast is at 8 am. Enjoy your stay here." He stood up and brought over two keys. "Both of the rooms are on floor five." Rouge took them and thanked him.  
  
The group walked over to the lift and took it to floor 5. Walking along the corridor, they found their rooms, no. 142 and no. 144.  
  
"Just a second you guys. Who is going to sleep where?" Tails asked. They hadn't thought about that and Rouge and Knuckles still weren't talking to each other. Sonic of course, had totally forgotten about this.  
  
"That's obvious Tails. You can share a room with me and Rouge and Knuckles will share a room." Sonic said. Tails buried his face in his hands and sighed.  
  
"Whatever, I don't mind." Knuckles said quietly and Tails stared at him. Rouge shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"Well now that that is sorted out, let's go and have something to eat!" Sonic said cheerfully.  
  
They had dinner and afterwards, decided to go straight to bed, as it had been a long day.  
  
"I'm pooped! I'm going straight to bed. I'll see you guys tomorrow, ok?" Sonic announced as they stood by their rooms.  
  
"Night Sonic, night Tails." Rouge and Knuckles both said.  
  
"You too." Tails replied and they entered their separate rooms, closing the doors behind them.  
  
************************  
  
Rouge and Knuckles entered the room and the first thing they noticed was the bed. Not the beds but the bed!  
  
"Oh no, this is all I need!" Knuckles said just a little bit too loudly. Rouge looked so hurt at what he had said that he lowered his head in shame. She shook it off though.  
  
"It looks like it's a twin bed. That's probably why they are together." She commented. She kicked off her shoes and got into the bed. "Aren't you tired?" She asked.  
  
"What? Oh yes, sorry about that." Knuckles shook his head and placed his Hammer Gloves on the table before kicking off his shoes as well. He got in the other side of the bed and if they had tried to move any further apart, they would have fallen out. Silence fell on the room as they both tried to get to sleep, which was surprising difficult even though they were tired.  
  
************************  
  
Knuckles woke up and promptly fell out of bed, landing on his head. Rouge sat up awake and leaned over to where Knuckles was grimacing.  
  
"Good morning. Are you ok?" She asked amused. Knuckles groaned in reply and sat up. Rouge got out of bed as well and walked to the bathroom. "Just going for a wash, be ready in a minute." She called out and disappeared into the bathroom. Knuckles decided to have a look through the window and walked to it.  
  
The area was empty and the only life around was the pigeons sitting by the fountain. The sun had only been up for a couple of hours so it was still quite cool. The statues created large shadows and looking at it, you would never realise that this was a capital city.  
  
About half an hour later, Rouge finally finished in the bathroom and Knuckles ran in there, as he really needed the toilet. Rouge only had to wait five minutes when Knuckles came out again.  
  
"Did you actually go near any water while you were in there?" She asked.  
  
"Of course I did. Unlike women, we only take a few minutes in the shower." He replied.  
  
"Shall we go down to breakfast?" She asked.  
  
"Shouldn't we wait for Sonic and Tails?" He looked a bit worried at what she had just said.  
  
"They probably won't be up for ages." She walked out of the room and he followed her.  
  
They entered the dining room and found a table for four by the window. They ordered breakfast and they couldn't think of much to say, so they sat in silence. This didn't last long though as Sonic and Tails soon arrived.  
  
"Had a good night's sleep?" Sonic asked cheerfully.  
  
"Not too bad. Apart from the bit where I fell off the bed." Knuckles felt the bruise on his head.  
  
"How did you fall off?" Tails enquired.  
  
"I must have ended up right by the edge during the night and when I woke up, I just rolled straight off." Knuckles explained. Just then, Rouge and Knuckles' breakfast came so Sonic and Tails ordered some as well. When it arrived, they ate their food in silence and they soon finished it.  
  
"Where shall we go to first?" Tails asked.  
  
"Why don't we have a look at St. Peter's square? It's the most famous square here." Rouge suggested.  
  
"How do you know that?" Tails asked. Rouge shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"I've wanted to come here for a long time." Tails thought her eyes flickered to Knuckles but he didn't seem to be listening.  
  
They left the hotel and walked until they found the square. The place had started to wake up a bit and now the cafes were open for business. Bright umbrellas lined the sides of the square and a few people were sitting under them. They looked at some of the names of these cafes, including 'Galassia', 'Treviani' and 'Mario and Luigi's Pizza Parlour'.  
  
"Do you think that they might be there?" Sonic asked.  
  
"No, I don't think so." Tails said sarcastically. "I think they own the cafe."  
  
"Oh yeah, so they do. Could be why it's called Mario and Luigi's Pizza Parlour." Sonic pointed out. Tails sighed and led them into the café.  
  
Two men, one of them taller and thinner than the other, immediately greeted them. They both wore dungarees but one wore a green t-shirt while the other wore a red t-shirt. They both had moustaches and wore hats.  
  
"Good day, gentlemen and lady. Will you be wanting a table?" The fatter one asked.  
  
"Are you Mario and Luigi? And if not do you know where they will be as we wish to talk to them." Tails explained.  
  
"Yes, I am Mario and this is Luigi. We shall talk once we have found you a table." He replied. They followed him and Luigi to a table by the window. The group sat down and Mario and Luigi grabbed two chairs so they could sit down too.  
  
"Will you be wanting anything to drink?" Luigi asked.  
  
"Can I have a cappuccino please?" Rouge asked.  
  
"I would like a glass of water please." Knuckles replied. Luigi looked at the others.  
  
"Will you be having anything?" He asked. They shook his heads and he turned round. "Bowser, give us a water and a cappuccino!" He shouted. A few moments later, a huge turtle appeared. It had a shell but it also had huge spikes everywhere. It had flaming hair and stood on its hind legs. He carried a tray and gave Rouge and Knuckles their drinks. They thanked him and he left.  
  
"So then, what did you want to talk to us about?" Mario asked. Sonic explained the whole situation and when he had finished, they thought for a few moments.  
  
"I don't think we've seen anyone of that description. I think we would remember him. I'm sorry we couldn't help. Why don't we show you some sites instead?" Mario suggested.  
  
"That would be a great idea! But don't you need to be here?" Tails asked.  
  
"We just get Bowser to look after the place. Shall we go?" Mario said. They stood up and left the parlour.  
  
They led the way and they were soon by the Trevi Fountain. While Rouge, Knuckles and Sonic were throwing coins into it, Tails took the opportunity to ask them for their help.  
  
"I need your help in a plan I have." Tails said to them.  
  
"What are you planning to do?" Mario asked. Tails explained the whole situation with Knuckles and Rouge.  
  
"So I was thinking, seeing that this is the most romantic place in Europe, you could help me get them together?" Tails asked.  
  
"We could help you, but how?" Mario asked.  
  
"Just show us a park or something that they could spend some time alone in tonight." Tails said. Luigi turned to Mario.  
  
"How about the Aurelia Park? It has some secluded spots." He suggested. Mario nodded his head.  
  
"Thanks you two. Can we go there next please?" Tails said. They nodded their heads and they walked over to the others, who were sitting on the edge of the fountain.  
  
"Right, now we're going to show you the Aurelia Park. It's not too far away, luckily." Mario said and he led them up a hill.  
  
They saw the park at the top of the hill. It was quite big with shaded parts and there were loads of couples wandering around. There was a lake and people were feeding the ducks. They walked along the path and soon they reached the top of a small hill. They looked down and Rome was laid out below them. They could even see the sea from where they were.  
  
"This is called Venus' Peak." Mario said and there was a bench, but Tails remained standing.  
  
~This place is perfect for my plan. Now all I need is some way of getting them up here.~ Tails thought to himself as he tapped his fingers together evilly.  
  
"So then, where are you going next?" Mario asked.  
  
"We're going to Australia. I suppose you know someone there?" Sonic asked.  
  
"We do actually. Ask for Pikachu although you will probably find him at a beach." Luigi said. "Do you want to see some other places?"  
  
"Do you know where the best shops are?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Ah, we appear to have a shopoholic. The best place for you is the Spanish Steps. They have all of the designer shops there." Rouge's eyes lit up at the thought of designer shops.  
  
"Not shopping! I hate women and shopping, you can't keep them apart." Sonic said.  
  
"Luckily there is a nice café we can go to while Rouge goes shopping." Mario said.  
  
They returned to the city centre and soon they were met with a shopper's dream. Gucci, Versache and many more were sitting there waiting for people to enter them.  
  
"See you guys in a few minutes." Rouge shouted as she ran to the first shop.  
  
"More like a few hours." Knuckles said. They walked over to a street side café and sat under a red and yellow umbrella. They ordered drinks and talked to the owners, as Mario and Luigi knew them. The three of them were told many an anecdote as the remembered the good old days.  
  
It was starting to get dark when Rouge came back. She looked pleased with herself but there weren't any bags.  
  
"Umm.Rouge, where are your bags? After all, you spent enough time in there." Tails asked.  
  
"I couldn't carry them all with me, so I left them there and they'll get delivered to the apartment when we find out the address." She replied. They stood up and Mario and Luigi walked back with them to the hotel.  
  
"Can you two be at Venus' Peak tonight at eight O'clock?" Tails asked Mario and Luigi quietly. They nodded their heads. "And bring a pizza or something." Tails added.  
  
They arrived at the hotel and they waved goodbye to Mario and Luigi.  
  
"Thank you for showing us the sites." Knuckles said and they disappeared.  
  
"Shall we go and have dinner?" Sonic asked. The others agreed and as they were walking to the dining room, Tails grabbed Rouge's arm.  
  
"Rouge, Sonic asked me to tell you to meet him on Venus' Peak at eight tonight." He whispered.  
  
"Why does he want to meet me there?" She asked, puzzled.  
  
"He wouldn't tell me. He just said not to tell anyone else." By now, Sonic and Knuckles were looking at them with interest. "But isn't Gucci really expensive? How did you afford it?" He asked loudly.  
  
"Quite easily when you have a job." She replied and entered the dining room.  
  
They ate dinner and listened to Rouge telling them what she had brought. It seemed to be, from the way she was talking, a whole wardrobes worth of clothes. When they had finished dinner they walked back up to their rooms.  
  
"Knuckles, Sonic asked me to tell you to meet him on Venus' Peak at eight." Tails whispered to Knuckles. When he frowned, he continued. "He wouldn't tell me anything else." Tails said, shrugging his shoulders. He caught up with the others and Knuckles was left feeling a bit confused. He shrugged his shoulders and entered his room, after saying good night to Sonic and Tails.  
  
"Just going for a shower ok?" Rouge said and she ran into the bathroom.  
  
"That's weird, she only had one this morning." Knuckles said. "Oh well, it gives me the chance to go at least." He walked out of the room and set off for Venus' Peak.  
  
He wasn't the only one though. As soon as Knuckles had gone, Tails had run down the corridor and flew as fast as he could to Venus' Peak. He found Mario and Luigi standing by the path on the hill.  
  
"What do we do now?" Luigi asked. Tails looked around and found a large bush quite far back.  
  
"We hide in here and wait for them to come. Then we." And he continued to explain as they settled themselves down.  
  
************************  
  
"Right, now I just have to get out of here by the window." Rouge said to herself as she looked at it. She grabbed the ledge and lifted herself up onto it. She pushed the window open but it would only go half way. "Nevermind, I should be able to get through."  
  
She wasn't doing too badly until she got stuck. She tried to push herself out and finally popped out.  
  
"Arrrgh!" She shouted as she flew through the air. She quickly stopped herself and started to flap her wings. "I really need to lose weight." She said to herself before setting off.  
  
************************  
  
"Hmm.looks like Sonic hasn't arrived yet." Knuckles said to himself as he stood on the hill. A few minutes later though, he heard someone approaching and turned to the sound. He was surprised (Note: although we weren't) to see Rouge appear.  
  
"What are you doing here? And where is Sonic?" Rouge demanded.  
  
"I don't know! And I should be asking you that question, Sonic was meant to meet me here." Knuckles replied.  
  
"What do you mean? He was meant to meet me here! Tails told me so." She huffed.  
  
"He told me too! Why am I even talking to you?" He shouted and turned away from her. She did the same and stared stonily ahead for a few seconds until she sighed.  
  
"Knuckles.I'm sorry. I should never have shouted at you." She admitted. She turned around and found him staring at her.  
  
"I'm sorry too. For everything I said." He whispered.  
  
"Why don't we sit down? It looks like Sonic isn't going to turn up. Wait until I see that Tails, he won't know what's coming!" Rouge sat down and so did Knuckles hesitantly.  
  
They sat in silence staring at the full moon, which had risen into the sky. It cast a silvery light on the hill and stars twinkled in the sky. Rouge turned to Knuckles.  
  
"Knuckles." She started.  
  
"Yes Rouge?" He asked.  
  
"Knuckles, I need to tell you something. It's really important." She said. Hearing this, Knuckles turned to her but stared past her. "I.I.I like you." She finally said but he misunderstood her.  
  
"That's all right then. I didn't want to be hated for the rest of my life." He said.  
  
"I don't mean it like that. I mean I.really like you. What I'm trying to say is.is." She stumbled and Knuckles leant towards her. He kissed her lightly on the lips and her eyes widened in shock. She then relaxed and kissed him back.  
  
"Do you mean like that?" Knuckles asked afterwards. She nodded her head and smiled to herself. She had finally admitted her feelings and Knuckles felt the same way too! She felt on top of the world, and so did he. She laid her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her.  
  
Just then Mario and Luigi appeared from nowhere and stood in front of them. Rouge sat up quickly and Knuckles cleared his throat.  
  
"Have a pizza on the house!" Mario said, passing them the pizza.  
  
"Bugger off!" Knuckles growled.  
  
"Say pretty please with the macaroni cheese on the top." Luigi said teasingly.  
  
"Will you stop talking about cheese?" Rouge shouted. The question was met with silence. "Oh all right. Please leave, pretty pretty please with macaroni cheese on top."  
  
"Thank you. Come Mario, Tails will be pleased with-" Luigi started.  
  
"Luigi, shut up! You weren't meant to say that!" Mario hissed before dragging Luigi away.  
  
"Did he just say that 'Tails will be pleased'? I knew he was up to something!" Knuckles asked angrily.  
  
"Probably." Rouge said offhand. "But now we have to worry about something else. This pizza has garlic in it so if we eat it, we won't be able to kiss each other for at least two days." She explained.  
  
"We're in a bit of a rush aren't we?" He asked amused.  
  
"Look who's talking." She replied before leaning forward to give him a last kiss. They broke apart a few seconds later and ate the pizza, pretending that nothing ever happened.  
  
************************  
  
"I'm so dead." Tails gulped when he heard Rouge and Knuckles' conversation.  
  
"Hey, you never know, they may forget what I said." Luigi replied.  
  
"But don't you think they're so cute?" Mario asked.  
  
"It makes you want to." Luigi replied before starting to sing a song (Note: Luigi's part is in capitals and Mario is in normal type):  
  
BOOM BABY, BOOM BABY Boom baby, boom baby  
  
I WISH EVERY LITTLE BEAT OF MY HEART COULD TELL YOU HOW I FEEL  
  
AND I WISH EVERY LITTLE BEAT OF MY HEART COULD SHOW YOU IT'S FOR REAL  
  
AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DO TO ME  
  
EVERY TIME YOU'RE NEAR ME I CAN FEEL THE BEAT  
  
IT'S THE POUNDING OF MY HEART  
  
OH YOU MADE IT START  
  
WHEN YOU DO WHAT YOU DO TO ME  
  
Oh it's the moon; hey it's the moon,  
  
Yay it's the moon, oh it's the moon  
  
I bet ya, every little beat of my heart  
  
Can tell you how I feel  
  
This love's for real  
  
Now I can't shake this feeling  
  
But I don't think you even know  
  
I tried to hold it in but here it comes and then there it goes again  
  
Yes it's steady pounding  
  
I love the way it's sounding  
  
It makes me want you more  
  
And it's like I said before  
  
It's the pounding of my heart  
  
Oh you made it start  
  
When you do what you do to me  
  
OH IT'S THE MOON; HEY IT'S THE MOON  
  
YAY IT'S THE MOON, OH IT'S THE MOON  
  
DID I SAY EVERY LITTLE BEAT OF MY HEART  
  
COULD SHOW YOU IT'S FOR REAL  
  
THIS LOVE'S FOR REAL  
  
So one plus one makes two  
  
That's me and you and I don't know about you  
  
But we know that it's boom boom  
  
'Cos when you're there my heart goes zoom zoom  
  
And we know that you want a little  
  
Boom, I need you for the things that you do  
  
Forever, let me wanna stay true  
  
Boom baby, boom baby  
  
YES IT'S STEADY POUNDING  
  
I LOVE THE WAY IT'S SOUNDING  
  
IT MAKES ME WANT YOU MORE  
  
AND IT'S LIKE I SAID BEFORE  
  
IT'S THE POUNDING OF MY HEART  
  
OH YOU MADE IT START  
  
WHEN YOU DO WHAT YOU DO TO ME  
  
Oh it's the moon; hey it's the moon  
  
Yay it's the moon, oh it's the moon hey  
  
I bet ya, every little beat of my heart  
  
Can tell you how I feel  
  
Oh it's the moon, it's the moon  
  
************************  
  
"Can you hear that?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"Yes, shall we go and have a look?" They both stood up and walked over to the bush. Mario and Luigi carried on singing, not realising that Knuckles and Rouge were standing behind them. Just then, Knuckles saw Tails sitting there and grabbed him in a Homer Simpson's stylee.  
  
"Why you little-" He started and Tails responded in the typical way by making strangled noises.  
  
"Knuckles drop him!" Rouge commanded and Knuckles gradually let go of him. Tails smiled to himself at the thought of Knuckles obeying someone's order. Yet again, he grabbed him by his neck. "Knuckles, if you don't stop it now, I'll dump you!" Rouge said and Mario and Luigi sniggered as Knuckles plus Rouge went red.  
  
"All right but only if you promise not to tell anyone ok? I would prefer to do it myself." Knuckles said.  
  
Tails nodded his head and ran away quickly. Mario and Luigi looked from Knuckles and Rouge to where Tails had gone. They then quickly stood up and walked away after Tails.  
  
"Are we actually going to tell anyone?" Rouge asked.  
  
"No. I want to see whether Sonic is really ignorant or if he's just stupid." Knuckles smiled. "I'm sure Eggman and Shadow will work it out when we next see them."  
  
"You think Shadow's still alive?"  
  
"Of course he is. He's in Australia but we're going to have to find Pikachu first." Knuckles reassured. They put the pizza box in the bin and walked back to the hotel, arm in arm.  
  
************************  
  
Knuckles woke up the next morning and soon wanted to go back to sleep. He felt really tired but he sat up when he heard Rouge in the bathroom. Rouge singing in the bathroom (Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!).  
  
"And all my life,  
  
I've prayed for someone like you  
  
And I thank God  
  
That I've finally found you  
  
And all my life,  
  
I've prayed for someone like you  
  
And I hope that you feel the same way too  
  
Yes I pray that you do love me too." Knuckles glowed scarlet as Rouge entered the room but continued the song.  
  
"Say, I promise to never fall in love with a stranger  
  
You're all I'm thinking of  
  
I praise the Lord above  
  
For sending me your love  
  
I cherish every hug  
  
I really love you." He finished the song and hugged Rouge.  
  
"Good morning. Are you all right? You've gone a bit red." Rouge smiled slightly.  
  
"Yeah just a bit hot. I think I'll have a shower." He quickly walked to the bathroom and shut the door.  
  
"How many times can I make him go red in the next few days, I wonder?" She said to herself.  
  
She didn't have to wait long until Knuckles was ready and they walked down to breakfast where Sonic and Tails were already eating.  
  
"Hello, you're up late! Want some of mine? I'm a bit stuffed." Sonic greeted and pushed over his plate.  
  
"We had better go after this because Australia is quite far away." Tails said. The others nodded their heads and when they had finished, they set off to find the Tornado. They found it where they had left it near the Trevi Fountain. They got into it and set off for Australia.  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
S. Chensu: Bless them, they're so cute!  
  
Knuckles: ^-^;;  
  
S. Chensu: Aw, little Knuckles all embarrassed?  
  
Knuckles: I am not little!  
  
Luff: *Mutters* I'm sure Rouge would agree with you there.  
  
Rouge: What did you just say? -_-  
  
Luff: Nothing! *Edges away quickly*  
  
S. Chensu: I love those two songs! All about love and giving your heart to someone else-  
  
Yugi: *Suddenly appears* Believe in the heart of the cards and you can do anything!  
  
Luff: I thought you had gone!  
  
Yami: Sorry about him, he does that sometimes.  
  
Bakura: He's not the only one, you puny Pharaoh!  
  
Téa: Now break it up you guys, we're all meant to be friends.  
  
Joey: Shut up Téa. Nobody insults Yugi like that and gets away with it!  
  
Tristan: Joey, calm down!  
  
Joey: Charge!  
  
*Whole group apart from Téa and Tristan end up in huge dust cloud, the occasional limb glimpsed briefly*  
  
S. Chensu: *Grabs megaphone* What the f**k are you lot doing in here? This is a /Sonic/ fanfiction, not a Yu-Gi-Oh! one!  
  
*Yu-Gi-Oh! people get up quickly and brush themselves off, looking at S. Chensu nervously*  
  
Yugi: sorry about that, we'll be leaving.  
  
*Group run off screen as fast as they can*  
  
Shadow: Wow Sonic, they're faster than you are! I didn't think it was possible for pathetic humans to move like that.  
  
Sonic: Oh ha ha ha! Very funny!  
  
Eggman: Shut up you two, this is getting very boring.  
  
S. Chensu: I agree. Please read and review and any flames will be used to set fire to Yugi *See Yugi with quivering lip and puppy eyes tied to a very large skewer*  
  
Luff: No I won't let you hurt him!  
  
S. Chensu: Fine, I'll set Tails on fire then instead *See Tails with quivering lip and puppy eyes also tied to a very large skewer*  
  
Luff: Ok then.  
  
Tails: What?!  
  
Rouge: Ok people, time to leave, nothing to see here. Just review before you move on please. 


	6. The completion of the group or The tale ...

S. Chensu: Guess who?  
  
Luff: Er, Chen they can see your name at the start of the sentence!  
  
S. Chensu: D'oh! *Smacks head*  
  
Luff: I hope you didn't hurt the Yu-Gi-Oh! characters too much after the last episode.  
  
S. Chensu: Nah, I brought in some professionals to deal with it.  
  
*Ash and co enters dressed in an Agent Smith (Matrix) stylee*  
  
Luff: What the hell are you doing here?  
  
Ash: In case you've forgotten, we're in this episode!  
  
Misty: Why am I dressed like a boy?  
  
S. Chensu: Would you prefer to look like Trinity?  
  
Misty: ^-^;; Um, no thanks  
  
S. Chensu: Exactly.  
  
Luff: Ooh, bitchy.  
  
S. Chensu: I'll give you a Morpheus style lecture instead if you want.  
  
Luff: Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
S. Chensu: Yes so anyway, they 'dealt' with the small Yu-Gi-Oh! problem. *Turns to Ash* Have you got any evidence that you 'dealt' with them?  
  
Brock: *Holds out box* Have a look in there Miss Chensu.  
  
Luff: Ooh, how posh!  
  
S. Chensu: Shut up you! *Looks in box and laughs manically* Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!  
  
Luff: What's in the box? Let me see! *Tries to look inside*  
  
S. Chensu: *Snaps it shut* No, you're far too young to see this.  
  
Luff: Please? Pretty, pretty please?  
  
S. Chensu: *Sighs* Oh all right then *Gives Luff box*  
  
Luff: *Looks in it* AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! *Runs off screen*  
  
Ash: You knew she would do that, didn't you?  
  
S. Chensu: Let's just say that the thought of poor old Yugi now would pull at her heart strings.  
  
Sonic: This may seem really weird but shouldn't we get on with the story?  
  
S. Chensu: *Coughs* Yes, that would be a good idea. Um, let's see, the disclaimer. *Searches through schoolbooks* Aha, here it is! Disclaimer: We do not own the Sonic characters or Pokémon characters. We also don't own the song 'Stranded'. We only own the story.  
  
Sonic: Now the episode can start at last! *Sidles over to S. Chensu* So then, what was in that box?  
  
S. Chensu: See for yourself.  
  
Sonic: *Looks in box* Yuck!!!!! And we're letting you decide what we do? *Sprints off screen*  
  
S. Chensu: Ah, the power of the box.  
  
(Note: Sorry Yersi Fanel but Shadow's not in Mexico.)  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Episode six: The completion of the group or The tale of surfing Pikachu and preoccupied Shadow  
  
During the journey, Tails sneaked occasional looks at Knuckles and Rouge but they didn't even seem to know that the other existed. Or so he thought.  
  
"Is he still trying to look at us?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Yep. Who knew someone his age could be so interested in two people going out." Knuckles said. "I hope we get there soon. I'm really tired after last night." He put his hand to his mouth and yawned loudly. This immediately set Rouge off and they both laughed. She leant her head back and closed her eyes. Knuckles leant against the side of the Tornado and closed his eyes but opened them a few moments later when he felt a weight against his side. He tilted his head and saw Rouge leaning against him. The smile on his face was evident as he fell asleep.  
  
************************  
  
They landed with a bump by Bondi beach in Sydney. Knuckles opened his eyes and noticed that Tails was looking at him weirdly. He rolled his eyes and jumped out of the Tornado. They walked onto the beach and immediately noticed a large crowd standing at the front of the beach. They walked over and squeezed to the front of the throng of people.  
  
"Excuse me, but what is going on?" Tails asked a boy standing next to them.  
  
"You're foreign aren't you?" He asked and they nodded their heads. "Only the foreigners ask. Pikachu is surfing and when he does, everyone watches. He's the best around here, even humans can't beat him." At the mention of Pikachu, they looked up with interest. A huge wave had just appeared and Pikachu was shooting the tube. He did some tricks and then landed on the beach.  
  
"Pi pikachu!" He shouted and everyone clapped.  
  
Soon the crowd dispersed and the group walked over to him.  
  
"Hello Pikachu. We were wondering if we could talk to you?" Sonic asked after introducing the group.  
  
"About what?" He replied.  
  
"We're looking for a friend of ours and you're our last hope. He's a hedgehog-"  
  
"Is he red and black?" Pikachu interrupted.  
  
"Yes he is! Do you know where he is?" Tails asked.  
  
"He's staying with me. But I don't think you'd want to see him. He looks in a bad way." Pikachu started to walk up the beach. They followed him and he carried on talking. "We found him about a week ago unconscious but he hasn't woken up yet. Something awful must have happened to him." He looked at Sonic, wanting to know Shadow's story. Sonic noticed but didn't really want to go into it.  
  
"He had an accident and after it, we couldn't find him." Sonic waved his hand evasively.  
  
"Just an accident? Didn't look like that to me. Cor, it's a right scorcher out here isn't it?" Pikachu said, his Australian accent came through. A cork hat appeared out of nowhere and he put it on his head.  
  
"Will you show us where he is?" Tails asked.  
  
"Of course I am! I wasn't just walking in this direction for nothing you know." Pikachu replied hotly. Tails picked up the Tornado while the others walked. They walked through Sydney and were soon in the suburbs.  
  
As they reached the top of a hill, a huge building stood in front of them. It was circular and had a red and white ball at the top. The sign read 'Pokemon Centre' and Pikachu showed Tails a garage where the Tornado could be kept. After that, they walked through the automatic doors. The first thing they noticed was how cool it was. This was because of the air conditioning, the fans that whirred around above them. There were several doors leading to different parts and in the centre was a circular desk with a cat working at a computer. It looked up when they entered and stopped working.  
  
"Hi Pikachu. Enjoy your break?" He asked.  
  
"Yes it wasn't too bad but there were people watching as usual. Anyway I'd like to introduce Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Rouge to you. They've come to see case number 34520. How is he doing out of interest?" Meowth looked with curiosity at the group.  
  
"Someone's come to claim the lump of charcoal at last. I was wondering if anyone owned him." Meowth mused. Sonic frowned at his words.  
  
"Lump of charcoal? Why is he called that?" He asked.  
  
"Oh.no reason." He said quickly.  
  
"Ignore him. I'll take you to see Shadow in a minute but I think you might be hungry. I am anyway. Come with me." Pikachu walked through one of the doors and they followed him.  
  
The room turned out to be a dining room with six four people tables. The group sat down at one of them and Pikachu hopped onto a stool, which was standing in front a slide open window.  
  
"Brock, are you in there? Food wanted here please." The window slid open and a boy of about 15 appeared. He had dark skin and black hair. He wore an orange t-shirt, green body warmer and brown trousers. He had his eyes closed in a Japanese magna art stylee. The most remarkable thing though was that he wore a pink frilly apron and held a ladle in his hand. Behind him was a kitchen full of cooking pots and steam. Two people seemed to be running around in there in a panic. It appeared that something was boiling and they didn't know what to do. The boy turned around and saw the scene. He sighed and closed the window a bit.  
  
"Ignore that. So then, what will you be having?" He asked.  
  
"A Chilli dog for me please." Pikachu said.  
  
"How unhealthy! I'm having some fruit please." Knuckles said.  
  
"I think we'd better stay off the Chilli dogs eh Tails?" Sonic laughed. "I'm not hungry anyway."  
  
"Me neither." Tails added. Brock closed the window and clattering was heard. Several shouts were also heard and Brock practically fell out of the kitchen as he stumbled through the door.  
  
He stood up straight quickly and cleared his throat. He placed a fruit bowl on the table and a Chilli dog on a small plate. Pikachu jumped from the stool and sat on the table.  
  
"Come draw up a chair and sit with us. Will them two be coming out?" Pikachu asked, looking very amused as Brock opened the kitchen door and steam poured out of it. He coughed and hissed something into the kitchen. The steam spread out and the two people who were glimpsed earlier appeared.  
  
There was another boy who was about 12. He had pale skin with scratches on his cheeks and black hair. He wore a white cap with red back and peak. He had a black t-shirt with a blue short-sleeved jacket. He wore green fingerless gloves and blue jeans. He was laughing nervously while he scratched his head. The other person was a girl of about 14. She also had pale skin and ginger hair. She wore a yellow crop top and denim shorts held up by breeches.  
  
They grabbed chairs and squeezed themselves around the table.  
  
"This is Brock, Ash and Misty." Pikachu introduced the three people.  
  
"So then, why are you here?" Misty asked.  
  
"We're here to see the lump of char- I mean Shadow." Knuckles coughed to cover up what he had said.  
  
"Oh him. What I want to know is.what's the real story behind him?" She asked.  
  
"He had an accident that's all. We couldn't find him and we've had to travel to loads of places trying to find him." Sonic said quickly.  
  
"It's just the way he's been-" But a warning look from Pikachu stopped Brock. The group looked at each other puzzled.  
  
"Hey, maybe if you see him, he might wake up. He's been out cold ever since we got him. But I'm sure you want to see him now don't you?" Ash asked.  
  
"If we could." Tails said politely. Pikachu popped the last bit of Chilli dog into his mouth and jumped to the floor.  
  
"Let's see what the Chansey and Blissey say." He said and Knuckles thanked Brock for the fruit and they followed Pikachu back to the reception. They entered a door and stood at the top of a corridor. This was obviously the hospital part as everything was white and beeps were heard from machines in the rooms. As they walked down the corridor they met two large pink pokemon wearing nurse hats.  
  
One was entirely pink and was an egg shape. It had a small tail and long spikes coming out of its head. It had a pouch and it contained a large, white egg. The other one was a darker pink and had curls on either side of its head. It had white parts on its wrists and around its waist. It also carried an egg.  
  
"This is Chansey and Blissey, just two of our nurses here." Pikachu introduced them in order. "Can we see case number 34520 please?"  
  
"Chansey, Chansey!" The Chansey said and led them to the end of the corridor. Blissey entered the room for a few moments and put some chairs out before leaving with Chansey.  
  
"You can go in now. I'll come back in about twenty minutes ok?" Pikachu said before leaving as well. The others stood around the door, scared to go in.  
  
"Well, we may as well get this over and done with." Tails said and he pushed the door open. They entered the room and were met with a horrific sight.  
  
From looking at him, they now understood why he was called a 'lump of charcoal'. Every part of him was burnt so now he was completely black. His spikes had turned into Afro hair and were bent at odd angles. He had a bandage around his chest, his breathing was erratic and he was rasping really badly. If this wasn't scary enough, Shadow was twitching and it was rather unnerving.  
  
"God, he looks even worse than Knuckles and Sonic did after that attack." Rouge whispered. "I don't think I want to stay here any longer." Tears started to well up in her eyes. Knuckles immediately concerned, went over and hugged her tightly.  
  
"Rouge don't worry. He's not dead and as soon his burns heal and he's awake, we can make him look a bit better." He whispered comfortingly. She wiped her eyes and hugged him back. She didn't look at Shadow again though so Knuckles continued to hold her.  
  
"He must be having one hell of a dream." Tails said, looking at Shadow's twitching.  
  
"I wonder what he's thinking?" Sonic said.  
  
************************  
  
"Soon I'll be able to see Maria again." Shadow said aloud as he was falling. He could feel a stinging sensation as he entered the atmosphere but he ignored it. ~I will miss the others though.I was starting to like Sonic.~ Shadow sighed but this turned into a hiss, as the pain grew stronger. To take his mind off things, he started to sing.  
  
"I don't want to feel like I'm stranded  
  
Left me all alone I can't take it no more  
  
I wish that you were here by my side  
  
'Cause I remember those days  
  
When it was my time  
  
If I could right the wrongs that I did  
  
I would give it all to you  
  
If you were here I know you would too  
  
I know you would too yeah  
  
I don't want to feel like I'm stranded  
  
Oh baby I don't want to be here alone  
  
'Cause I don't want to feel abandoned  
  
But baby heaven is the place that I belong  
  
Now that I'm alone  
  
And you walked away from me  
  
I just don't want to live anymore  
  
I gave my life to you  
  
Like you gave your life to me  
  
If only I could show what I mean  
  
'Cause I need you more than ever  
  
If you were here you would need me too  
  
I don't want to feel like I'm stranded  
  
Oh baby I don't want to be here alone  
  
'Cause I don't want to feel abandoned  
  
But baby heaven is the place that I belong  
  
I know I'll see you again someday  
  
I'll be waiting for that day all my life  
  
I know that things will be the same again  
  
I know some day I'll see you again  
  
I don't want to feel like I'm stranded  
  
Oh baby I don't want to be here alone  
  
'Cause I don't want to feel abandoned  
  
But baby heaven is the place that I belong  
  
I don't want to feel like I'm stranded  
  
Oh baby I don't want to be here alone  
  
'Cause I don't want to feel abandoned  
  
But baby heaven is the place that I belong  
  
I don't want to be here all alone."  
  
He stopped suddenly as over the last few minutes, the ache had been growing stronger. He looked at himself and saw that he was burning! The flames were licking over his body and dancing orange, yellow and red. His eyes then slid to the Earth below him.  
  
~And to think they may never know the truth.~ He closed his eyes as a tear slid down his face. ~And to think I'll never see Earth again.~ The tear stung his face as it ran along the cracks of his skin. Although the pain was getting worse, he couldn't feel it anymore, as his world grew smaller.  
  
Suddenly it seemed, his whole body exploded. He squinted and saw brown earth below him. He snorted as he accidentally tried to swallow a mouthful of soil. His lungs were on fire and he stopped breathing so they would stop hurting. His brain told him to breathe in and so he did, gasping. This just made them hurt more. He took small breaths and when his chest had settled down a little, he lifted his head up to look at the rest of him.  
  
"Overall, I would say that I am pretty mangled." He said aloud in a broken voice. He then noticed that where he had landed, the earth had been scooped out so he was in a crater. He also noticed that he was lying in the middle of a path and not wanting to be seen, he tried to get up. His legs felt like jelly though and they buckled, not able to support his weight. His head spun around and he groaned with pain as he sank back down to the ground. His eyes were trying to close but Shadow refused to fall asleep.  
  
"Hmm.what's that?" He had just heard a strange, low vibrating noise coming from down the path. It then stopped and in a panic, Shadow tried to at least sit up so that he wouldn't attract attention. "Although, in my condition you would have to be blind not to notice..." He said bitterly.  
  
The person came around the corner and.it wasn't a person! His eyes started swimming, as he looked unblinkingly at the creature. It was a mouse of sorts but yellow and standing on its hind legs. It also had red cheeks ~or are they red eyes?~ Shadow asked himself. He blinked and they came back into focus again. It wore a cork hat and carried a didgeridoo. ~So that must have been the noise I heard.~ Shadow thought. His brain had just processed what he had seen.  
  
"It's not possible!" Shadow whispered but as he thought of the other people who he knew, it grew plausible. This still didn't stop him from being amazed especially when it noticed him and cried out,  
  
"Blazing galahs! This one looks like it's in bad shape!" The voice was quite high, but this didn't sound too doubtful because of its small size. It walked over and laid the didgeridoo down. "G'day mate! What's happened to you?" As it leapt down the hole the thought that this thing might want to hurt him passed through Shadow's mind.  
  
He tried to stand up again and he succeeded, with a fair amount of wobbling. He slipped though as he attempted to take a step back. He crashed to the ground and the little energy he had left was knocked out of him.  
  
"I'm not going to hurt you! I help people who have been-" But as soon as Shadow had heard his first words, he was reassured and finally gave up the struggle to keep awake.  
  
A white room.pink egg shaped things.people.Sonic? These things revolved around Shadow's head in his dream. He wanted to get out of this dream. The same memory had been going around and around in his head and he wondered if he was dead.  
  
"Someone help me!" Shadow called out desperately in the vague hope that someone might hear.  
  
"Look!" A familiar voice called out. Shadow stopped and tried to remember it.  
  
"Tails! Help me!" He called out again but his world was now changing. Instead of blackness, the place was growing lighter and Shadow realised that he was free of his seemingly eternal sleep.  
  
************************  
  
"Look everyone! I think Shadow's waking up!" Tails cried out and the others turned to look at his face. His breathing was growing faster and louder. He stirred and opened his eyes slowly. He looked around, first at the four people staring at him and then himself and the room. He didn't know what to think but as he looked around, he noticed Knuckles and Rouge standing together. He frowned slightly and tried to speak.  
  
"Hello everyone." His voice was croaky but when they heard him speak, they smiled slightly and Knuckles' grip on Rouge relaxed slightly.  
  
"I'm so glad you're awake!" Sonic said and Shadow smiled slightly.  
  
"Nice to know you have so much concern for me. But where am I? What's happened?" Shadow asked confused.  
  
"We looked all over the world for you and found you here in Australia. Which reminds me, we'd better tell Eggman, Zelgan and Gelest that we've found you." Tails explained.  
  
"The professor's still around? And who are Zelgan and Gelest?" Shadow wanted an explanation of what they had done.  
  
"This could take some time." Rouge sighed as Sonic started telling Shadow what they had done.  
  
Tails was just telling him about Italy when Sonic suddenly had a thought.  
  
"I never realised until now but nothing really happened in Italy. Everywhere else we've done something apart from Italy. That's strange." Sonic reflected. Shadow, who had been looking at Tails, noticed that for a millisecond, his eyes flickered to Knuckles and Rouge and so Shadow did the same. They looked a bit embarrassed at what Sonic had said and Shadow took note of this.  
  
Tails continued the story hurriedly, noticing Shadow looking interested at Knuckles and Rouge. Once he had finished it, Shadow decided to see if his thoughts were correct.  
  
"I must say Sonic, now I think about it, that comment about Italy certainly seems true. What do you think Knuckles?" He faced Knuckles and saw him go slightly pink but he covered it up very well.  
  
"Yes it is. Oh well, if something had happened, we'd probably be still telling you the story." Shadow considered this.  
  
"True, true." He looked at himself again and noticed the bandage around his chest.  
  
"Talking of your condition, I think you need a wash." Rouge commented. The door opened and Pikachu and Chansey walked in. They saw Shadow awake and smiled.  
  
"Awake at last! How are you feeling?" Pikachu asked as Chansey checked his joints and bandage.  
  
"Everything feels sore but not too bad. What is the bandage for?" He asked as Chansey finished looking at it. Chansey spoke for a few moments and Pikachu translated.  
  
"You apparently broke several of your ribs and one punctured a lung. It's just to help keep your ribs in place while they heal. Chansey says that you heal remarkably fast and you should be able to get up in a couple of days time. But for the moment, don't move too much." Pikachu told him.  
  
"Can we clean him up? I mean his hair is a mess." Rouge said quietly to Pikachu.  
  
"I'll see what I can do." Pikachu walked out of the room and Chansey came back with him carrying a bowl containing a bottle, towel and jug. She gave it to Rouge.  
  
"Thanks Chansey." Chansey started saying something and Rouge looked at Pikachu expectantly.  
  
"She says there's a sink you can get water from and the bottle has shampoo in it." Chansey suddenly remembered something and gave Rouge a brush. She left the room with Pikachu.  
  
Rouge laid the bowl down and walked over to the sink. As she did so, she beckoned Knuckles and started talking to him quietly.  
  
"You don't mind do you?" She asked.  
  
"Mind what?" He frowned, puzzled. She sighed and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Me washing Shadow's hair of course." Knuckles thought for a few moments and realised what she meant.  
  
"Of course not. I do trust you, you know." She smiled but feeling everyone's eyes on the two of them, winked quickly and grabbed the bowl so she could fill it with water.  
  
"What you're washing my hair already? Do I look that bad?" Shadow joked. Rouge looked serious though as she passed him a mirror. His smile turned to horror as he saw his hair.  
  
"My hair! I've gone all seventies and that's not good." It seemed that Shadow was very partial about his hair. "I need hair gel!"  
  
"Not before I wash it!" Rouge commanded as she brought the bowl over.  
  
Shadow sat up gingerly as Rouge placed the bowl on the bed and put the towel at the end of it. For some reason, Shadow was looking a bit embarrassed and he stared at Sonic, Knuckles and Tails.  
  
"You guys, can you contact Eggman and Zelgan please?" Tails got the hint and took Sonic and Knuckles out of the room.  
  
"Thanks Rouge." Shadow looked relieved and she shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"That's all right." He leant his head forward over the bowl and she poured the water over his head. He grimaced slightly and she stopped. "Are you ok?" She asked, worried. He nodded his head.  
  
"Yeah just a bit of a shock that's all." He thought for a moment as she continued soaking his hair. "Are you sure that Knuckles doesn't mind?" She looked at him sharply.  
  
"No he doesn't but how do you-" But Shadow interrupted her.  
  
"I didn't listen in on your conversation. It's a bit obvious that's all, your love I mean." Rouge went slightly pink.  
  
"Not to Sonic. He still doesn't know but Tails does. I suppose you know what happened in Italy then?" She asked shyly.  
  
"I do now. Poor old Sonic, don't you think you should tell him?" Now Rouge was putting shampoo into his hair and rubbing it in.  
  
"It's Knuckles' idea. He's testing out Sonic's ignorance." Shadow sniffed the shampoo.  
  
"Peach? That's a girl flavour!" He complained.  
  
"I think peach is very nice actually." She replied as she finished applying it.  
  
"Of course you do, you're a girl!" He replied hotly but she didn't get angry.  
  
"Close your eyes." She said calmly and he did so. As the shampoo washed down his face, the cuts and scratches on his face stung from the chemicals in the shampoo. He hissed, as although they weren't painful, they were extremely irritating.  
  
"Are you ok? Wait a minute, I'll get you something to cover your face." Rouge looked around the room and saw a pillowcase. She grabbed it and shoved it in Shadow's hands. He put it in front of his face and held it there with his hands spread out. The stinging was fading now and didn't reappear for the rest of the wash.  
  
Soon Rouge was finished and she poured the water down the sink before getting the towel to dry his hair.  
  
"Shadow, I've finished now. I must say you look a lot better now." She commented as Shadow put the pillowcase down. His hair although now clean had become flattened and it hung down in dreadlocks. She smiled and wondered what he would say if he saw himself now. She started drying his hair gently and as she was finishing, the others walked back in.  
  
"Glad to see you looking better." Sonic commented when they were all in the room.  
  
"Did you contact Eggman then?" Rouge asked Sonic.  
  
"Yes we did and he said he was coming over. He won't be here until tomorrow though. We talked to Gelest and Zelgan too. They seemed very happy at the news." Sonic said. Tails meanwhile was covering his mouth in a vague attempt to hide his smile.  
  
"What's so funny?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"Shadow's hair is more Afro like than it was!" Tails whispered and Knuckles looked over at Shadow. He noticed that Rouge was pointing at him too and he smiled when he saw that now Shadow's hair was dry, it was very fluffy in a true Afro stylee. Shadow, not missing a thing, looked from one to the other and then rolled his eyes upwards. It doesn't take much more than this for him to see his hair.  
  
"I think I'll be needing some hair gel." He commented and Rouge sighed.  
  
"There's no point you know. You're meant to stay in bed for at least another day and if you gel it now, it'll just get spoiled." Rouge noted.  
  
"I suppose you're right but can I at least brush it? I don't particularly want it staying like this for any more time." Rouge passed him the hairbrush and he lifted his arm but hissed slightly and dropped it again.  
  
"Are you ok Shadow?" Tails asked. Shadow rubbed his shoulder and nodded his head.  
  
"Just a bit stiff, that's all. I think I'll just leave it for now." He looked at his hair again and sighed. Rouge felt sorry for him so giving a quick look at Knuckles, she grabbed the brush and started brushing it instead.  
  
Now Shadow may be the ultimate life form but that didn't stop him from complaining.  
  
"Ow, do you have to brush so hard?" He squinted at her and she stopped. The others saw that the hairbrush was in his hair still.  
  
"Shadow, when was the last time you actually brushed your hair?" She asked exasperated.  
  
"I can't remember really." He started and seeing Rouge's look he stared downwards. "I'll just shut up now, shall I?"  
  
"That would be a good idea. Don't worry, once the main tangles are out, it'll be easier." She reassured him and proceeded to brush his hair, but more gently this time.  
  
Gradually, his hair returned to its normal shape of six spikes, although they were fluffier than before. Finally Rouge had finished and took a look at the hairbrush. The amount of hair stuck in it was disgusting so she quickly turned the brush downwards.  
  
"Can someone pass me a bin please?" She asked and Tails sitting by one, gave it to her. "Thank you." She said and quickly deposited the ball in the bin.  
  
"What did you just put in the bin?" Shadow asked suspiciously and Rouge tried to ignore him. "Rouge, give me the bin now." He commanded and she did so, looking away from him. He looked into it and saw the huge ball of hair. "Look at all that hair! I've probably gone bald now!" Rouge grabbed the bin out of his hands and put it down before crossing her arms.  
  
"Well what else do you expect when you don't actually brush your hair occasionally? Hair falls out naturally and if you don't brush it out, it creates knots. That was why it was so hard to brush your hair." She explained and Shadow calmed down slightly.  
  
"That's all right then."  
  
Just then Pikachu opened the door and looked in.  
  
"Will any of you be wanting dinner? If so, I can bring it in here so you don't have to leave Shadow." He said. The others looked at Shadow to see what he thought.  
  
"Don't worry you go and have dinner. I'm not hungry and I need to do some thinking anyway." Shadow said and they exited the room. "Yes, I have a lot to think about." Shadow whispered. Although he had only been up for a few hours, he was exhausted already. He shut his eyes and drifted off into sleep.  
  
In his dream, he stood up and noticed that his injuries had now gone. He looked around but as the place was pitch black, there wasn't much to see. He walked forward and saw a small pond ahead of him. Not thinking of much else to do, he headed for it and knelt down to look at the pool. He saw his own reflection and was startled by what he saw. He stared at his pale and drawn face. He had lost a lot of weight and it gave him a knobbly look. Ripples appeared in the middle of the pond and he watched as his image disappeared and was replaced by Maria's.  
  
"Maria, what are you doing here?" Shadow placed his hand in the water and her face wavered.  
  
"Shadow, you have to help your friends." Her voice sounded far off and echoed.  
  
"But how? Look at me, I can't do anything." But Maria wouldn't say anything else.  
  
"Shadow, you have to help your friends. Something is trying to stop you from waking up and you have to resist it." She pleaded. Her image started to fade away as ripples floated across the water.  
  
"Maria, don't leave me again!" A tear slid down his cheek and fell into the pond, creating more ripples.  
  
"I'll always be with you as long as you remember me." Her voice whispered before all grew silent.  
  
"Maria!" Shadow shouted out but no reply came. All of his sorrow reappeared as more tears trickled down his face. He looked up though when he heard a noise behind him. His head snapped round and he was confronted by a tornado. Before he could move, it had swept him up. Looking around, he saw instead of dust and leaves as you might expect, his memories spun around him.  
  
"What?" Shadow said aloud and he continued looking surprised for the next few minutes as his reminiscences flew past him. Maria, the ARK, Sonic, the Biolizard.these things spun around him, everything he knew.  
  
He felt the tornado slowing down and suddenly stop. He started falling and realised he was living his fall to Earth again. He remembered Maria's words and tightened his fists.  
  
"I won't live through this again! I will wake up, for Maria!" He shouted out but nothing happened. He closed his eyes and concentrated all of his thoughts on his bed and the room he was in. He opened his eyes and saw that instead of falling to Earth, he was now dropping to his bed. He saw himself, lying still under the blankets and he jolted awake.  
  
~Shadow, you have to help your friends.~ With this thought in his head, he got out of the bed slowly. He ached all over and his chest burned. He was driven by this one thought though as he walked resolutely out of the room. Outside everything seemed very quiet, too quiet. He walked down the corridor and noticed that all of the other rooms were empty. He reached the end of the corridor and stood in front of the door leading to the reception. He opened the door inaudibly and peeked his head around it.  
  
He saw an empty cage and Sonic and Tails lying still on the floor. He heard the sounds of metal against skin and noticed Knuckles and Rouge in the far side of the reception, fighting two people.  
  
~What can I do though?~ Shadow thought desperately. ~I can't attack them directly I'm too weak.~ He suddenly remembered the tornado in his dream. ~Hang on, what if I use my speed to create a whirlwind? But what about Knuckles and Rouge? I had better make sure that I get them out of the way first.~ With the plan in his head, he stretched his legs and jogged for a few moments to see if he could run. When he was satisfied, he stepped out into the reception and ran forward to Knuckles and Rouge.  
  
************************  
  
"I hope Shadow's going to be all right." Rouge said as they sat in the dining room again. Dinner had now started and it was just the four of them.  
  
"Don't worry. He's been through a lot so it's no wonder he needs some time to sort things out." Tails said. They continued to eat in silence until Pikachu came crashing through the door.  
  
"Quick, Team Rocket has come! Get out of here now!" He shouted and they stood up quickly.  
  
"Who is Team Rocket?" Sonic asked.  
  
"They're criminals that deal with pokemon. They used to be a push over but since we converted Meowth, they've changed. Now they're unbeatable!" Pikachu explained quickly as they ran down the corridor.  
  
"Wait! What about Shadow?" Sonic shouted.  
  
"They won't hurt him because he's not a pokemon." Pikachu said as they reached the reception.  
  
A terrible site met them. Two people had caught all of the pokemon including Meowth. They were all squashed in a cage, fast asleep. Ash, Misty and Brock were also in the reception. They had been tied up and couldn't loosen their ropes. When they saw Pikachu, Ash called out,  
  
"Pikachu, get away while you still can!" The two people turned around and they were a man and a woman.  
  
The woman had red hair, which curled out, to her left. She wore a white top with the letter 'R' on the front. She also wore a short, white skirt and had knee length black boots, accompanied by black gloves. The man had blue hair reaching down to his chin and wore the same as the woman apart from having white trousers instead of a skirt.  
  
"At last! Now we can have Pikachu too!" The woman said and quickly pressed something in her hand. A cloud of gas was shot at Pikachu and as soon as it made contact with him, he keeled over unconscious. The woman cackled and bundled Pikachu into the cage with the others. Suddenly, Sonic grew angry and he stepped into the reception.  
  
"Who do you think you are?" He called out.  
  
"We're Team Rocket of course, criminal masterminds of the pokemon world. Just listen to our motto and you'll understand." The man and woman stood together.  
  
Prepare for trouble  
  
And make it double  
  
To protect the world from devastation  
  
To unite all peoples within our nation  
  
To denounce the evils of truth and love  
  
To extend our reach to the stars  
  
Jessie, James  
  
Team Rocket blasting off at the speed of light  
  
Surrender now or prepare to fight!  
  
Wobbuffet!  
  
They finished it and turned to leave but didn't count on Sonic.  
  
"Oh no you don't!" He yelled out and ran forward. He home attacked Jessie and James and while he kept them busy, the others undid the ropes of Ash, Misty and Brock.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Tails wailed.  
  
"We have to get the pokemon out first." Misty said calmly. They sneaked over to the cage and looked at the door.  
  
"I can break this, no problem!" Knuckles said and he started combinations of punches to break the door. The others kept a look out while Knuckles continued attacking the door and gasped as James managed to knock Sonic out with a well-placed punch. They heard the noises behind them and saw the six of them looking scared while Knuckles continued his assault on the door.  
  
"You three get the pokemon out once Knuckles has finished while I create a diversion." Tails whispered and he stepped forward.  
  
"Oy you two idiots, come and get me if you think you can!" He called out and ran down to the other side of the reception.  
  
"Oh don't think we're stupid enough to fall for that one!" James laughed. They ignored Tails and turned back to the group.  
  
"What a great diversion that was!" Misty whispered sarcastically but she hadn't realised that Tails meant for this to happen. Tails snuck behind them and reached out for the capsule in James' hand but before he could pull it out, Jessie turned around and gassed him.  
  
Tails slumped down to the ground. This had given Knuckles enough time to finally break the door and Ash, Brock and Misty started to get the pokemon out.  
  
"Don't think you can escape the might of Team Rocket!" James said as he and Jessie ran forward to stop them. Knuckles and Rouge stopped them from reaching the others and stood in fighting poses. Jessie and James did the same and Knuckles suddenly rushed forward. Rouge did the same and the fights started. The three teenagers now had all of the pokemon and ran out of the centre to find somewhere to wake them up.  
  
The situation with the fight didn't seem to be going too well. All opponents seemed to be equally matched in skill and there was a stalemate. Knuckles, although he didn't want to admit it, was getting tired as the breaking of the door had taken quite a lot of energy. His movement had become sluggish and he was allowing hits to get in when he normally wouldn't have done. He collapsed down onto one knee but before James could cackle in victory, he felt himself being grabbed by his arm and taken away.  
  
He landed on the desk with a thud and as his sight came back into focus, he saw Shadow standing in front of him.  
  
"Shadow, what are you doing here? You're meant to be in bed." Knuckles groaned as he felt his injuries.  
  
"Yes well someone has to do something. Stay here ok?" Shadow ran off again and Knuckles heard Rouge beside him.  
  
"I think we'd better get out of the way." She dragged Knuckles down behind the desk and they watched the scene unfold in front of them.  
  
Shadow, who had taken Jessie and James by surprise, was now starting to run around them. Despite the fact that Shadow couldn't move at his potential speed, he went fast enough to confuse them two. All they could do was twist and turn their heads in panic as Shadow built his speed up and a small wind was soon whipped up. As Jessie and James felt themselves lift up, they clung to each other.  
  
"James, make it stop!" Jessie yelled out.  
  
"How?" Was all he could say in reply. They were now about three metres in the air but Rouge noticed that Shadow was slowing down.  
  
"Knuckles, he's slowing down! We have to do something!" She clutched his arm and he thought for a moment.  
  
"Then we had better get going. We could try to glide into them and hope we can hit them out." Knuckles suggested.  
  
"We really need Shadow to get them out of the centre." She jumped over the desk and walked slowly forward. "Shadow, if you can hear me, get them out of here! Me and Knuckles can deal with them from there." She waited for a few moments, praying that he had heard and she saw that the wind was now moving slowly towards the door. She followed it with Knuckles behind her and they now stood outside of the centre.  
  
Without thinking, they both grabbed the ledge above them and pulled themselves up. They stood in position and started to glide as fast as they could towards Jessie and James. They hit them with an extraordinary force, which knocked the wind out of them. They collapsed to the ground and watched as Team Rocket flew through the sky and landed about 25 metres from them. Shadow helped them up and they watched as Brock, Ash and Misty appeared around the corner. Three pokemon were running with them. One was Pikachu; one was a beige coloured, star shaped creature and the other was a Kitsune with an orange curl on its head.  
  
They stood in front of Team Rocket and they cowered away, knowing what was going to happen.  
  
"Pikachu, use your Thunder attack!" Ash shouted.  
  
"Staryu, use your Hydro Pump!" Misty called out.  
  
"Vulpix, Flame Thrower!" Brock yelled. The three attacks appeared and curled around each other. The combination of water, fire and electricity flew towards the two cowering people. It hit them with an incredible force and caused a small explosion, sending them into the air.  
  
"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They wailed and a star flashed into the sky as they disappeared.  
  
"We did it!" Pikachu jumped into the air and gave the peace sign. The pokemon flew into their trainers' arms and caught up in the moment, Rouge hugged Knuckles and Shadow. Shadow was panting slightly and Rouge let go quickly.  
  
"Are you ok Shadow?" She asked, looking concerned.  
  
"How many more times are people going to ask me that? I'm fine!" He said hotly. He then felt a slight tremble in his knees and his head swam for a few seconds. "Actually, on second thought, I don't think I'm all right." He said before sliding to the ground. Knuckles caught him though and lowered him down onto the floor.  
  
The other pokemon appeared and Chansey seeing Shadow gave him a quick check over.  
  
"She says he's just fallen asleep. I'm not surprised though, he must have worked pretty hard to get himself out of bed in the first place." Pikachu translated. Meanwhile, Brock had woken Sonic and Tails up with some Mint berries. Sonic rubbed his nose as he stood up.  
  
"Ow, that was some punch. Have they gone yet?" Sonic said as Rouge and Knuckles walked back in. Chansey and Blissey carried Shadow in and went to put him back in his bed.  
  
"What happened to him? I thought he was meant to be in bed." Tails said, pointing to Shadow.  
  
"So did we but never mind. He's not hurt, just tired." Knuckles pointed out.  
  
"And he's not the only one." Rouge yawned.  
  
"I must admit, it's getting pretty late." Pikachu said as he appeared beside them. "You can stay with us if you want, we have more than enough room. Follow me and I'll find you some beds, I hope you don't mind sharing a room." They followed Pikachu through yet another door and were met by one large room. There were two rows of beds, all of them empty.  
  
"I hope you don't mind it." Pikachu said.  
  
"This is fine. I just want a bed so I can get to sleep." Rouge sat down on the nearest bed to the door.  
  
"There's a couple of bathrooms down there if you need them. Good night everyone." Pikachu left the room and the others found beds. Rouge stood up and grabbed Knuckles by his arm just as he finished taking his upgrades off.  
  
"Come on Knuckles." She dragged a surprised Knuckles off to the bathroom and Sonic turned to Tails.  
  
"What was that about?" Tails shrugged his shoulders and got into bed.  
  
"Night Sonic." He whispered as he closed his eyes.  
  
"Night little bro." He replied before getting into bed too.  
  
************************  
  
"What did you do that for?" Knuckles asked when they entered the bathroom. Rouge closed the door and turned to him with a small smile on her lips. He cocked his head, puzzled but smiled too when she hugged him. She held him tightly and he did the same but squeaked loudly when Rouge pinched his arse.  
  
"Ow, that hurt!" She put one of her hands over his mouth to stop him from shouting out anything else. The other hand remained where it was though and she slowly lifted her hand away from his mouth. "Warn me next time you want to do that!" He hissed and she chuckled softly.  
  
"I wouldn't get the same reaction then would I?" She smiled slyly at Knuckles' shocked look. She quickly stopped him from saying anything though by kissing him.  
  
Knuckles responded and the kiss was slow and gentle. His fur stood on end and he crackled from the emotions that ran through him. He felt even more electrified though when he felt something enter his mouth. He realised that it was Rouge's tongue, and although it felt strange, he didn't try to pull away. She started to explore his mouth and as he gradually got used to it, he responded to her actions. She squeezed him to her as she continued to kiss him. It wasn't long before Knuckles was finding it hard to breathe and tried to squirm out of Rouge's grip.  
  
"Can't breathe!" He managed to gasp out. She stopped and supported him as his chest heaved up and down.  
  
"Are you ok?" She asked as his breathing slowed down.  
  
"Yeah, just had trouble breathing. You've done this before, haven't you?" Rouge shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"Only a couple of times. Do you want to stop now?"  
  
"I don't mind." He said playfully. She squeezed him slightly and smiled.  
  
"I'll take that as a no then." She whispered before their mouths met again. She went slower this time and Knuckles didn't have any trouble breathing. Now Knuckles knew what to expect, he grew more adventurous. Their tongues clashed and entwined as things got more heated. Their emotions spiralled upwards and they stopped after five frenzied minutes.  
  
Even Rouge was panting slightly as they clung onto each other trying to slow their pounding hearts.  
  
"That.was.great." Knuckles said shakily. Now they had stopped, he felt sleepy and swayed slightly.  
  
"I agree. But now I think you should go to bed, you look exhausted." Rouge smiled gently.  
  
"It's no wonder I feel tired." He whispered. They suddenly cleared their throats business like and walked out of the bathroom as though nothing has happened. Luckily Sonic and Tails were asleep. They slipped into their individual beds and both of them were soon dreaming.  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
S. Chensu: Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Knuckles: Why must you insist on doing s**t like that?  
  
Luff: Knuckles, language!  
  
Knuckles: I can f**king swear as much as I f**king like you f**king bitch!  
  
Luff: *Gets very angry* Get out of here now!!  
  
Knuckles: Eek! *Runs for his life off screen*  
  
S. Chensu: Someone's in a bad mood.  
  
Luff: Only because you did that terrible thing to Yugi!  
  
S. Chensu: Oh, that. Hmm, I can see why you'd be a bit mad.  
  
Ash: *Suddenly appears* Will you be needing our services anymore Miss Chensu?  
  
S. Chensu: No, that will be all you three.  
  
Ash: We'll be going now then *They leave the screen*  
  
S. Chensu: Just a note to say that I love that song; it's one of my favourites. It's also Shadow's theme song!  
  
Shadow: Why did you have to make me sing?  
  
S. Chensu: Because I'm in an evil mood!  
  
Luff: This is getting boring now so it's probably best if you leave before you hit your head on the keyboard *Winces as reader slumps in front of computer*. Oops, too late.  
  
S. Chensu: Please read and review, it means a lot to us.  
  
Luff: Next author's note: Star Fox characters! 


	7. The return of Eggman and char grilled So...

S. Chensu: Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the amount of random characters in the intros. I do realise that not everyone knows who they are. It's just that they just suddenly appear for no reason at all!  
  
Fox: Hehehehe, bet you didn't spot us coming!  
  
Luff: Actually we did because we said you would be last episode.  
  
Fox: D'oh!  
  
Falco: Well done idiot.  
  
Fox: Who you calling an idiot?  
  
Falco: Well there's only you and me here and I'm obviously not going to be talking about myself.  
  
Peppy: *Comes in* Now stop it you two, we're not even meant to be here.  
  
Falco: And you think that's a good enough reason?  
  
Luff: Excuse me; you're not even in this story at all!  
  
S. Chensu: Yeah, get the hell out! *Brandishes marine shotgun* Otherwise I'll use this on you turkey!  
  
Falco: Who you calling a turkey?  
  
Slippy: Falco, I really think we should just leave while we still can.  
  
Fox: I agree.  
  
*Group run off screen screaming their heads off*  
  
Luff: Wow, where did you get that from?  
  
S. Chensu: Borrowed it off Edwin Lindsey.  
  
Luff: Oh here she goes. *Puts face in hands*  
  
S. Chensu: He's from Eternal Darkness in case you were wondering. Great game, I suggest you go and buy it.  
  
Luff: *Gags S. Chensu* Right, I'll do the disclaimer. We don't own the Sonic characters, pokémon characters or Star Fox characters (we may as well say it). We do own Gelest and Zelgan though. And the story of course.  
  
Fox: *Head pops through side of screen* Now read people!  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Episode seven: The return of Eggman and char grilled Sonic  
  
Tails woke up in the morning and remembered what he saw last night. Knuckles and Rouge looking very flushed.  
  
"Yuck! That's disgusting!" He could only imagine what they had done and although he was certain they hadn't had sex, he didn't really want to think about it. He got out of bed and noticed that everyone else was asleep. "Oh well, that just means I get to use the shower first." He did so and when he had finished drying himself off, went to find some breakfast.  
  
He went to the dining room and found Pikachu sitting on the table eating an apple.  
  
"Hello Tails, you're up early." He greeted and indicated to a table in the far corner. "Just take what you want from there." The table was laid out with a large breakfast and so Tails had a bowl of cereal and a glass of milk.  
  
"Have you heard anything from Team Rocket since yesterday?" Tails asked as he chewed his breakfast.  
  
"No, none of the pokémon have been able to find a trace of them. It can only be a good thing though." Pikachu replied.  
  
"What actually happened? I was knocked out before the end and so I didn't see anything." Pikachu said that he wasn't there until the end so he didn't know about Shadow. He did describe the end though and Tails looked amazed when Pikachu described the combination of attacks. "Wow, you must be really powerful."  
  
"I just keep myself fit and healthy. Where are your friends anyway?"  
  
"Still asleep. Knuckles and Rouge probably won't be up for ages but Sonic is usually out by now..." Tails looked puzzled until the door swung open and Sonic entered.  
  
"Morning you two. Oh breakfast! I'm really hungry." Sonic piled food onto his plate and sat down, his eyes focused on the small mountain in front of him. He started eating as fast as he could and Tails laughed.  
  
"Sonic slow down! You'll get indigestion doing that!" Tails said and Sonic stopped eating.  
  
"You're probably right." He ate more slowly now and he finished it. Knuckles and Rouge still weren't up and Tails sighed.  
  
"They must have been doing a lot to still be in bed." Tails said to himself.  
  
"I wonder where Knuckles and Rouge have got to?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Probably still in bed. They looked really tired last night. Why don't we go and see Shadow and ask him about yesterday?" Tails suggested.  
  
"That's a good idea." Sonic stood up and walked to the door. "If you do see them Pikachu, can you tell them we've gone to Shadow?" He said, looking at him. Pikachu nodded his head and they left the room.  
  
They entered Shadow's room to see him sitting up awake. He was obviously miles away as he looked startled when he saw them standing by his bed.  
  
"Oh hello you two. Where are Knuckles and Rouge?" He asked and noticed that Tails face crinkled slightly.  
  
"They're probably in bed still." He replied. They sat down nearer to Shadow and he sat up a bit higher.  
  
"Can you tell us what happened yesterday?" Sonic asked.  
  
"If you want, if you tell me what happened before." He listened to Sonic and then Tails as they told him what had happened while he wasn't there. He then told them about his plan and how Knuckles and Rouge managed to hit Team Rocket when he had got them outside. He didn't tell them about his dream though.  
  
"You managed to attack them in your condition. Wow, that's really brave of you." Tails said. This embarrassed Shadow slightly so he didn't reply.  
  
"I wonder when Eggman will get here?" Sonic said.  
  
"He told me that he would be here in." Tails looked at his watch. "About ten minutes time. I suppose we had better find Knuckles and Rouge before he arrives." They stood up and walked by the door. "We'll be back in a minute." Sonic said and Shadow nodded his head.  
  
They left the room and walked back to the dining room.  
  
"Those two have been acting really strangely recently. I don't suppose you know anything about it do you?" Sonic asked Tails. Not trusting himself if he opened his mouth, he simply shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. They entered the dining room and found them eating breakfast. "We've found you at last! God, how long were you in bed?" Sonic said.  
  
"I don't know. We were just tired after yesterday. In case you hadn't noticed, you and Tails got to sleep while me and Knuckles had to fight Team Rocket on our own until Shadow came along." Rouge explained.  
  
"I may have been able to sleep but that didn't stop the pain of my nose coming through when I woke up. It still feels bruised." Sonic rubbed his nose for a few seconds.  
  
"Anyway, Eggman is going to be here in about five minutes. We just wanted to find you so you would know." Tails said. Knuckles and Rouge stood up, their plates empty.  
  
"Shall we go then?" Knuckles asked before leaving the room with the others following him.  
  
They entered the reception to see Eggman walk through the door. He had obviously bought more clothes, as he now looked different. It even looked like he had lost some weight. He saw them and headed in their direction. Tails who suddenly remembered Meowth walked over to the reception.  
  
"I assume that's Mr. Eggman?" Meowth asked. Tails nodded his head and Meowth tapped a few keys. "I've got him in the security system now so he's now able to walk around."  
  
"Thanks Meowth." He walked back to the others and said hello to Eggman.  
  
"Ah Tails, I was just telling the others that we can now move in to the apartment. It's not fully furnished yet so we have to do that when we get back." Eggman explained. "I should be really telling you this with Shadow as well. Where is he?" He asked.  
  
"He's in bed in the hospital ward." Sonic said and he led them to Shadow's room.  
  
They entered and sat down in the chairs. Shadow saw Eggman and smiled slightly.  
  
"It's good to see you again Professor. Where have you been then?" Shadow asked.  
  
"It is also good to see you looking all right. Haven't the others told you about the apartment?"  
  
"Oh yes, I forgot about that. Where is this apartment then?"  
  
"In London, England. Now then are you all definitely sure you want to live in the apartment?" He asked.  
  
"I see no reason why we shouldn't. Why, what's wrong with us living there?" Sonic asked suspiciously.  
  
"There's nothing wrong, it's just that if you want to, it means you have to go to school." These immediately brought back old memories of times before Sonic in Tails' mind.  
  
"Are you sure we have to?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"When I bought the apartment, I needed to fill in details of who will be living there. And as you four are all under sixteen, you are legally required to go to school. You can still change your minds if you want to though." Eggman explained.  
  
"What, after all of the effort you put in to getting it in the first place? School doesn't really bother me." Rouge shrugged her shoulders. Of course Knuckles agreed and Sonic looked at Tails, knowing what he was thinking.  
  
"Would you be all right with that Tails?" Sonic asked quietly. Tails looked up and Sonic could see the fear of old memories in his eyes but he nodded his head.  
  
"Yeah, no problem." He smiled and Sonic hugged him.  
  
"We'll go, no problem." Sonic said and Eggman smiled.  
  
"What about you Shadow?" Eggman turned to him.  
  
"I don't really have anywhere else to go. Then I shall stay with you." Shadow decided. Eggman clapped his hands.  
  
"Well, now that that is sorted out how about telling me what actually happened on your journeys?"  
  
The group all told the story and particular things that had happened to them. Of course one major thing was left out, this being the whole Knuckles and Rouge situation. Shadow was extremely vague about what had happened to him but he blamed it on his memory. They finished the story with the appearance of Team Rocket and how thanks to Shadow, they had managed to get rid of them.  
  
"Well you certainly have been doing a lot of things over the last week. When will you be allowed out of bed Shadow?"  
  
"They said yesterday at least another day but since the Team Rocket event, I don't know." Just as he was saying this, Pikachu and Chansey walked in. "Maybe now we can find out." Shadow said. Chansey did the usual check up and Pikachu waited for the results so he could tell the others. Chansey looked happy when he talked to Pikachu so it could only be good news.  
  
"Chansey says she doesn't see why you can't get out of bed for a little while today as long as you don't overdo yourself like yesterday." Pikachu suddenly remembered something. "Ah yes, I've just recalled that once you were out of bed, we would celebrate by having a traditional ozzie barbeque. If you follow me to the garden, I'll start setting it up."  
  
"Oh, a barbeque!" Tails squealed and was met with frightened looks from everyone. "What? Someone had to sound excited." They shrugged their shoulders and mutterings of 'I suppose so' were heard.  
  
They followed Pikachu into the garden. It was large, with a gazebo in the middle. Because of the hot climate, there were many eucalyptus trees lining the sides. A pond stood in one corner, surrounded by rocks and in the opposite corner there was a large grill.  
  
Pokémon were already lying in the shade or perched in trees, chatting to each other. Ash, Misty and Brock were sitting on a bench chatting too. Rouge and Knuckles immediately went to sit on the grass in the far right corner but as it wasn't too hot yet, the others contented themselves with a table near the barbeque. Brock stood up when he saw them and they realised that yet again, he had the pink, frilly apron on.  
  
He walked over to the barbeque and poured some paraffin (Note from S. Chensu: I think that's what you use anyway) in it before setting it alight. Unfortunately, he had gone over the top with the paraffin so not only were the coals on fire, he got burnt too. He blinked for a few moments before quickly dunking his head in the pond, which was quite close. He then continued like nothing had ever happened and soon there was the smell of roasting meat. Pikachu had put his cork hat on and was sitting on the table with Sonic, Shadow, Tails and Eggman.  
  
Sonic, who was sitting across from Shadow remained quiet while the conversation took place. He was remembering what Shadow had said to him once.  
  
~I think I now know who the ultimate life form is. I think it might be you Sonic.~ He had thought about it then but he must have forgotten it, what with all the events that followed it. These words continued to dominate his thoughts and he wondered if they were true. He stared at Shadow trying to find himself in that face, anything that resembled him. He therefore did not hear the others telling him that the food was ready.  
  
"Earth to Sonic, Earth to Sonic! God, he's acting almost as weird as Rouge and Knuckles." Tails waved his hand in front of Sonic's eyes and they crossed as Sonic woke up from his thinking.  
  
"Hmm?" Sonic looked at them and only half concentrated on the reply that Tails gave.  
  
"Don't you want anything to eat?" He asked exasperated.  
  
"Oh yeah, I suppose I should." Sonic walked over aimlessly as he continued to think. ~We're both hedgehogs but apart from that. What's that smell?~ Sonic sniffed the air and the odour of burning curled towards his nose. He just then felt a sharp pain in his arse and looking down, saw his behind on fire.  
  
It turned out that Sonic had been so deep in thought that he had forgotten about the barbeque and had backed up into it. Now his backside was on fire and as he realised this, he panicked and started running around with his arms in the air.  
  
"ARRRGH!" He screamed as he ran around and the others looked on with mild interest.  
  
"Well, at least it woke him up." Tails shrugged his shoulders and Shadow folded his arms.  
  
"How pathetic." He stated and Sonic hearing this managed to stop for long enough to shout back,  
  
"Well you would be running around too if your arse was on fire!"  
  
"It was." Shadow said simply and Sonic considered this before running around again.  
  
Now anyone who has done Chemistry in school knows that oxygen fuels fire and so instead of getting smaller, the fire had got bigger and now he was a big ball of flame. The others who hadn't been concerned were worried now and Tails quickly pushed Sonic into the pond. Sonic went under for a few minutes and Tails remembered that he couldn't swim. Luckily the pond was only chest deep so Sonic soon reappeared very wet and cold.  
  
He got out and shook himself, soaking everyone. He stood there in the sunlight for a minute trying to warm up. His teeth chattered and he hugged himself tightly.  
  
"I almost preferred being on fire." He shivered as he said this.  
  
"That can be easily arranged." Sonic heard Shadow say and looking at him noticed that Shadow had his hands by the barbeque. Realising what he was suggesting, Sonic shook his head quickly.  
  
"No, that won't be necessary." He said hurriedly and sat back down at the table. He was drying out by now and the sun warmed him up.  
  
"Would you like a towel Sonic?" Pikachu asked and Sonic simply nodded his head. He followed Pikachu into the centre to find one for him. Shadow, Tails and Eggman settled back down on the table.  
  
"What are them two up to? They've been sitting over there talking to each other since we got here." Eggman said, pointing to Rouge and Knuckles.  
  
"Let's just say they are developing their friendship." Shadow hinted. Tails gave him a warning look but Shadow just shrugged his shoulders. Eggman considered this for a few minutes while looking at them.  
  
"Do you mean that." He stumbled, trying to find suitable words. "They're going out?" Tails simply nodded his head and Eggman lifted his eyebrows.  
  
"Ah.I understand now. Am I the only one who didn't know?" Eggman asked.  
  
"No, Sonic still doesn't know. I don't know how, it's rather obvious." Shadow commented.  
  
They all looked at Knuckles and Rouge laughing together. When Knuckles glanced over though, they turned their heads and pretended that they hadn't been staring at them.  
  
"Under the watchful gaze of our friends I see." Knuckles said. "You mean the intruding stares. Come on, I'm fed up of them finding entertainment in watching us. Let's go somewhere more private." Rouge said and they walked past the others to find a place where they could be together alone.  
  
"I wonder what they're doing?" Eggman asked. Tails remembering last night shuddered.  
  
"I don't even want to think about it." The others smiled at this outburst. Sonic then appeared by the table again but this time dry.  
  
"That feels better. Hey, where did Knuckles and Rouge go?" He asked, looking at where they had been. Shadow smiled slightly.  
  
"They wanted some privacy." Eggman looked at him but as usual, Sonic didn't pick up on the meaning.  
  
"Oh well, nothing wrong with that I suppose. Why are you looking at me like that?" He felt three pairs of eyes on him.  
  
"Oh sorry, I was just thinking." Tails said and he shook himself. "Are you going to have any food then?" He asked instead, remembering that before the incident, Sonic was going to get something to eat.  
  
"Oh yeah, that's a point." Sonic said and he finally got something to eat.  
  
Being reminded of this made him recall why he had been so deep in thought in the first place. Thinking of Shadow though, he suddenly felt a fluttering sensation in his stomach. This worried Sonic who had never felt this before. He tried to put his mind to other things, like the strange behaviour of Knuckles and Rouge but his focus kept wandering back to that fluttering. The others noticed he was being quiet again but left him to his thinking.  
  
~Would there be any way of finding out though?~ Sonic thought as he chewed on his food.  
  
Deciding that he had better look like he wasn't worried by anything he brought his concentration back onto the others.  
  
"So then, what does the apartment look like?" He asked. Eggman fell to explaining it to him. Although it wasn't in great detail he managed to get an idea of the place.  
  
The whole place was in a small block of ten apartments and each was spread out over a floor. The block was in the edge of London and there were enough things there, including a cinema, shopping centre and park. They were to have a bedroom each plus there were two bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen and study. Some of the furniture had arrived but not much else had been sorted out although Eggman had arranged for plumbers and engineers to get the electricity, heating and water running.  
  
"What about the schools?" Tails asked.  
  
The schools were about twenty minutes walk away and were situated in one area, which also had a college. The primary school, which Tails was going to, was called Inverio and the secondary school, which Rouge, Knuckles and Sonic were going to was called Maples. They were quite large and everyone seemed friendly. Tails felt sceptical about this but didn't say anything. To take his mind off school, Tails thought about the bedrooms.  
  
"Whichever room Rouge has it's going to have to be big because when we were in Italy she did a lot of shopping. We didn't see the bags but she spent enough time to buy a whole shop." He laughed.  
  
"Oh yeah, can you remember when she came back and we wondered where the bags were?" Sonic asked, reminiscing about Italy. Tails nodded his head and wondered why Sonic didn't comment about the 'lack of events' in Italy. Eggman seemed to have already worked out that something was wrong with Sonic.  
  
"Sonic, are you all right? Is it anything you want to talk about?" He asked, gently. Sonic, shocked by this change in Eggman, almost told him his concerns about what Shadow had told him. ~But what would I say? Oh yes, I just think I could be the ultimate life form and Shadow is causing my stomach to flutter.I can't tell him or anyone.~  
  
"No nothing's wrong. I just felt like being quiet for a while. Plus I couldn't think of much to say." Sonic smiled and Eggman seemed to accept this.  
  
************************  
  
Knuckles and Rouge had managed to find a secluded path near the centre. Now they walked under the trees, which gave the place its speckled shade. They were surrounded by tranquillity, occasionally broken by the whisper of wind slipping through the trees. They walked arm in arm in silence, enjoying each other's company.  
  
Knuckles was thinking about Shadow's disappearance and he remembered what Rouge told him afterwards. ~I've got something better than jewels that I'm thinking about right now.~ He hadn't understood it then and he didn't understand it now. He realised that now would be the perfect time to ask so he cleared his throat, breaking the stillness around them.  
  
"Rouge?" His voice sounded clear and harsh amongst the softness of the trees. She turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Can you remember what you told me on the ARK? You know, about how you have something better than jewels. What was it?" She smiled at his question and leant towards him.  
  
"What else but you?" She whispered into his ear and he wriggled away from the tickling sensation he felt.  
  
"Don't do that, it tickles!" In response to this, Rouge quickly grabbed him around the waist. Knuckles immediately moved away and protected his waist.  
  
"Like that?" She asked playfully, smiling at his reaction. She ran forward and feigned another attack before hugging him. "I didn't realise you were so ticklish! I like ticklish people." Knuckles cringed away from her hands when they first went round him but when he understood that she wasn't going to tickle him again, he relaxed. He enjoyed the moment of closeness they had and stood still, with his eyes closed. Rouge then let go of him and walked back towards the centre.  
  
"We had better get back to the centre before the others wonder where we've gone." She commented and Knuckles walked quicker so he could catch up with her.  
  
By the time he had reached her, they were nearing the centre. Before they got to there though, Rouge took him around the back of some garages. Knuckles had a questioning look on his face as Rouge slowed down. He rested against the concrete pillar separating two garages.  
  
"I can't wait until we get to the apartment. We'll have some privacy then. But until then." She walked up to him and leant against his body. Her arms curled around his neck as her face moved towards his. Their lips connected in a deep and passionate kiss and Knuckles hugged Rouge closer to him.  
  
************************  
  
~I've looked everywhere and I haven't been able to find them.~ Shadow thought as he wandered around the centre. He walked through the reception and stood by the kerb of the path at the front of the building. He glanced around and as he did so, he saw Rouge walking with Knuckles running behind her. ~There they are!~ He walked in the direction they were in but they disappeared before he could reach them. By now he was bored of looking for them and decided to do some exploring. He saw the garages and stood facing them. ~I wonder what they keep here? There are no houses nearby.~ Interested in what could be there, he set off for them.  
  
As he stood in the road that stood between the two rows of garages, he noticed how quiet it was. His head twisted with every little noise he heard but he remembered that nothing was going to hurt him.  
  
~This is just stupid; I've got nothing to fear.~ He wandered along the garages, feeling secure until he heard the whispers of someone talking. ~Now that was real.I had better go and see what it is.~ He set off resolutely towards the sound but as he reached the corner, he slowed down and had to force his legs to move.  
  
He peered around the corner, ready to run if necessary but he was met with a sight he did not expect. He saw Rouge and Knuckles kissing but surprisingly, this did not make him want to vomit. He was meant to find them anyway and as it looked like they weren't going to finish any time soon, he would have to interrupt them. He strolled towards them and when he was near enough to them, he cleared his throat loudly.  
  
"Hello Knuckles, hello Rouge." His greeting was cheerful.  
  
Knuckles immediately pulled back from Rouge and stood with his mouth open, looking at Shadow. Rouge took this calmly though and seemed uninterested in the fact that Shadow may have been spying on them.  
  
"Hello Shadow. Did you want something?" She asked lazily.  
  
"I was just looking for you so I could tell you that dinner will be ready soon. You should come because you haven't had much to eat all day." He sounded concerned and smiled very slightly at Knuckles' continued look of amazement. "Well, thank you for letting us know." Rouge said and Shadow ambled off back to the centre.  
  
When he had gone, Knuckles turned to Rouge totally astounded at her.  
  
"Hello Shadow, did you want something?" He imitated. "Is that all you had to say?"  
  
"It was better than your gawking face." She retaliated. "It doesn't matter because he knows." Knuckles took a few moments to process this.  
  
"He knows?" He half shouted. "How?"  
  
"I don't know, he must have just worked it out. Come on, we had better get back before anyone starts asking questions." She brushed herself off and walked to the centre. Knuckles followed her still wondering how Shadow could know. He shrugged his shoulders after being stumped by this mystery for a few minutes.  
  
Five minutes later Knuckles and Rouge turned up at the dining room, to find that everyone had already sat down to dinner.  
  
"There you are! Where have you been?" Said Eggman, exchanging a look with Tails and Shadow, before turning back to them again. "We've been waiting for ages."  
  
"Sorry," said Rouge, "We were.we lost track of time." She blushed a little before sitting down next to Shadow, and Knuckles took his place next to Sonic.  
  
"I haven't had a chance to talk to you for ages!" Sonic said, smiling at him. "What have you been doing then?" He waited for an answer.  
  
"Err, we've been." Knuckles glanced at Rouge.  
  
".Exploring." Rouge finished off.  
  
"Oh! Ok then, where did you go?" Pikachu asked before taking a huge bite out of a piece of chicken.  
  
"We just.wandered around." Knuckles stammered.  
  
"Yeah, we found a path. It was-" Rouge started.  
  
"Romantic?" Tails finished. Knuckles' body jerked forward as he spat out the drink, which he had been in the process of swallowing. He coughed loudly, while Sonic patted him on the back. A look of concern flashed across Rouge's face. Once Knuckles had finally finished, he leant back and started gasping, giving the occasional groan.  
  
"Knuckles, are you alright?" Shadow asked.  
  
"I think so." He replied, his hand now on his chest.  
  
"Anyway, it was not romantic." Said Rouge, glaring at Tails. He shrank back into his chair, and continued to eat his dinner quietly.  
  
The rest of the meal continued without any conversation. When they had finished, Rouge jumped up and looked at Knuckles.  
  
"Are you ok now?" Seeing the look on her face he rubbed his chest and winced slightly.  
  
"I don't know. My chest still hurts." He simpered.  
  
"We had better get you sorted out then." She went to get him but Sonic stopped her.  
  
"I'll do it if you want." He suggested but Rouge shook her head.  
  
"Don't worry, it's no problem."  
  
"Maybe Sonic should go with Knuckles. I want to talk to you anyway." Eggman said and with that, Sonic took Knuckles out of the room.  
  
The others were just about to walk out too when Chansey entered the dining room. She spoke for a few moments before leaving again.  
  
"Chansey says that Shadow should go to bed now because he's going to need some rest." Pikachu told them.  
  
"Thanks Pikachu." Tails said and they left the room.  
  
They made their way back to Shadow's room although Rouge wanted to find Knuckles. They entered Shadow's room and he collapsed on the bed. Rouge stood near the door and crossed her arms.  
  
"So then, what do you want? I want to find Knuckles." She looked annoyed.  
  
"What will you do then eh?" This comment from Shadow caused Tails to wince and shiver slightly. "After all, your last evening of activities permanently scarred Tails for life." He added and Rouge looked at Tails incredulously.  
  
"Have you been spying on us too?" She turned to him but suddenly remembering Eggman, she stopped quickly.  
  
"Don't worry, he knows too. The way you act with Knuckles, I'm surprised you look like that every time you find out that someone knows." Shadow remarked much to Rouge's disbelief.  
  
"What are you trying to say?"  
  
"Nothing, nothing. Anyway it wasn't me who wanted to talk to you." Shadow looked at Eggman. He cleared his throat before starting.  
  
"I was just going to ask if you want to start making out with each other, can you do it in your bedrooms?" If he looked embarrassed, it was nothing to how Rouge felt.  
  
"If you want. We were going to anyway because we don't want people staring at us. Which reminds me, you never answered my question Tails." She shot a venomous look at Tails.  
  
"No, of course I didn't look! Let's just say that you made enough noise to wake me up from a very nice dream." This only increased Rouge's embarrassment but luckily the entrance of Knuckles and Sonic saved her.  
  
Knuckles frowned when he saw Rouge's embarrassment but she smiled encouragingly and he looked at the others.  
  
"Are you all right now?" Eggman asked, a slight smile on his lips.  
  
"Quite fine. I'm tired so I'm going to bed now. See you all tomorrow." He opened the door and Rouge walked to it too.  
  
"I'm coming too. We're going to need a lot of sleep if we're going soon." They exited the room but Eggman suddenly remembered something.  
  
"Wait a minute you two. We need to decide if we're going tomorrow or not."  
  
"If we do go, will we actually have some furniture to sleep on?" Shadow asked.  
  
"Yes, I did get some of it before I left. The water and heating should be ready too."  
  
"That reminds me. I need to make sure my shopping arrived. I had better sort that out." Rouge reminded herself.  
  
"I don't see why we can't go tomorrow. As long as Chansey thinks that Shadow's ok." Tails stated.  
  
"So we shall go tomorrow then? I agree with Rouge in that case, we had better get to sleep." Eggman remarked and stood up too. The door opened and Pikachu walked in.  
  
"You have a knack of coming in at the right time don't you? We were just wondering where you were." Tails observed.  
  
"I do my best. When will you be going?" He asked.  
  
"Tomorrow hopefully. Would you be able to find Chansey so Shadow can have a last check up?" Sonic asked.  
  
"I'll see what I can do." Pikachu strolled out of the room and Chansey appeared a few moments later. She gave Shadow the usual check up and made her evaluation.  
  
"She says you can go home tomorrow if you want but if you do, you should try not to go out too much for the next few days." Pikachu interpreted. "I know, why don't I give you the phone number of the centre and you can call me if you have any questions?" He suggested.  
  
"That sounds like a good idea. Thank you for all of your help." Sonic said.  
  
"Hey no problem. Just tell us when you're ready to leave." Pikachu left the room along with Chansey and gradually the others filtered out back to their beds.  
  
Rouge entered the room last and wanted to talk to Knuckles but she saw him asleep in his bed. He had no worry or care on his face, only the innocence, which Rouge loved so much. Not wanting to disturb him, she got into her bed and drifted off into sleep content with everything in her life.  
  
************************  
  
Sonic woke up in the morning and leapt out of bed, ready to face the new day. The doubts of yesterday had gone from his mind and now he just wanted to leave the centre. He wandered the corridors aimlessly and as he finally decided to get some breakfast, he collided into Shadow. Sonic apologised but Shadow didn't even seem to notice, in fact he was deep in thought.  
  
"Morning Shadow! If you want to think, you should do it when you're sitting down or this will happen again!" Sonic joked but Shadow just lifted his head and gave him a penetrating stare. ~I wonder what he's thinking about? And why is he looking at me like that? Is he pondering his words to me too? Nah, he's probably reflecting on his memories.~ These considerations flashed through his mind as Shadow kept up his intent look. He seemed to realise what he was doing though and blinked.  
  
"Pardon? I was just going for breakfast, are you coming too?" He asked.  
  
"Yes, I was just seeing if anyone was awake." They strolled to the dining room in silence and as usual, Pikachu was seated at a table. They sat themselves at the same table but Sonic remembered about breakfast and rose to fill himself up.  
  
"Morning you two. Ready to leave?" Pikachu asked cheerfully.  
  
"Yep, just have to wait for the others to wake up now." Sonic replied.  
  
"Which could be some time in the case of Rouge and Knuckles." Shadow muttered. He didn't eat anything and sat in silence as Sonic proceeded to eat his cereal.  
  
The door swung open and the others entered as one big mass. They looked round and seeing Sonic and Shadow at the table, they headed for it too.  
  
"I thought you would already be here." Tails smiled as he sat down next to Sonic. "But why aren't you eating Shadow?"  
  
"I'm not hungry." He stated and fell into silence again. Tails didn't expect such a short answer but he shrugged his shoulders and turned to Sonic, hoping he had more to say.  
  
"I had an idea and I talked to the others. They liked it too but I thought I'd tell you first." Sonic turned to him and he continued, "We decided, as we're not in any rush we would to and visit Gelest and Zelgan."  
  
"That sounds great! You would like it there Shadow, very beautiful and peaceful." Sonic recommended. This seemed to draw Shadow from his contemplation and he considered this.  
  
"Where is this place?" He asked.  
  
"On a planet called Kikuyu. It's not far from here and we could probably stay the night. I had better talk to them before we leave though." Tails mused.  
  
By now everyone had their breakfast in front of them and were chewing in silence. Surprisingly, Rouge and Knuckles weren't talking to each other or even looking in each other's direction. Tails took his communicator out and called Gelest and Zelgan.  
  
"Hi you two, it's Tails. We were wondering if we could come and stay the night with you. It would be a good chance to catch up on news."  
  
"Hi Tails. Of course you and your friends can stay. To be honest we were rather bored here. Just come when you want to." Gelest said.  
  
"Ok, see you later then." He turned it off and finished his breakfast. The others had finished theirs while the above conversation went on and Eggman plus Shadow were looking at Rouge and Knuckles with interest.  
  
"Well now you've finished I suppose you had better get going." Pikachu commented. The group stood up and left the dining room.  
  
Reaching the reception, they found Meowth filing his claws as he talked to Ash, Misty and Brock.  
  
"Hi you guys, we heard you were leaving so we thought we'd say goodbye." Ash said.  
  
"Goodbye to you too. We had a great time here." Sonic replied.  
  
"Enjoy your trip." Meowth added as he left the desk. He stood outside the centre as Tails and Eggman quickly got their machines.  
  
The others soon found out that Eggman could transform his Hornet (Luff: That's the name of his machine!) into a plane too. The two planes crawled to the entrance and Sonic instantly jumped in beside Tails. Shadow got in behind Eggman and after Knuckles and Rouge gave each other a quick glance, he got in with Tails and she got in with Eggman.  
  
As they flew into the sky, they waved goodbye and they set off for Kikuyu. Sonic and Tails were chatty as they wondered if there had been any changes but Knuckles listened in silence. Things weren't much better on the other plane as they remained buried within their own thoughts.  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
S. Chensu: Wahoo, they're finally found Shadow! Now everyone can settle down to a normal life.  
  
Luff: Unfortunately that's not where the story ends.  
  
Sonic: *Gulps* It isn't?  
  
S. Chensu: Nope, we've got another thirty episodes left and something's got to happen in them.  
  
Fox: As long as it doesn't involve that gun.  
  
S. Chensu: What you mean this one? *Takes out marine shotgun*  
  
Fox: Meep!  
  
S. Chensu: Don't worry Fox; I wouldn't use it on you. The only people who will be affected by this are the readers! *Swings gun so reader is looking down barrel* You see that blackness there? That is what you're going to be seeing for the rest of your very short life if you don't press that little purple button to review.  
  
General Pepper: On behalf of the Lylat system, fanfiction.net system and any others that you care to think about, I am arresting you for possessing a dangerous weapon.  
  
S. Chensu: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Falco: At last, someone's got rid of the crazy bitch!  
  
S. Chensu: Luff, you're gonna get me out aren't you?  
  
Luff: Umm.no.  
  
S. Chensu: How could you? *Is dragged off the side of screen* I'll be back!  
  
Falco: Humph, that's what they all say.  
  
Fox: Anyway, now there's some peace and quiet you can review. In fact I suggest you do.  
  
Luff: Until next time! 


	8. Sun, sand and snogging!

REALLY IMPORTANT NOTE: This is not a Sonic/Shadow story. We're really sorry to everyone who read this who thought so. It was going to be originally but we changed our minds, as we didn't want it to be higher than a PG-13. There's a reason why we kept that bit in but you won't find out why for at least another twenty episodes. If this had been a Sonic/Shadow story, we would have warned you, as we know people have varying views on slash/yaoi/shonen-ai/gay love/lemon and lime/hentei or whatever you like to call it. Anyway, just to make sure you understand: This is not a Sonic/Shadow story or any others for that matter. Apart from Knuckles/Rouge and other characters but it would spoil the plot if we told you who they were. They are all straight couples though.  
  
Now it's time to find out what happened to everyone after the last author's note drama: S. Chensu getting arrested for possessing a gun (and a mighty big one at that).  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Luff: Now that Chensu is gone, we can celebrate!  
  
*Lord of the Rings characters enter*  
  
Legolas: It's party time everyone!  
  
Luff: *Drool* Legolas always was my favourite.  
  
Legolas: *Leans towards Gimli* Why is she looking at me like that?  
  
Gimli: Isn't it obvious wee bonnie lad? She fancies you!  
  
Legolas: Damn, I just can't get away from the girls!  
  
Pippin: Oh come on Leg, you know you love them really.  
  
Legolas: What have I said about calling me Leg?  
  
Pippin: Um.you said not to?  
  
Legolas: Correct.  
  
Pippin: Right, I'll remember that.Leg.  
  
Legolas: That's it! Come here you smelly stumpy swamp man! *Chases Pippin off the screen*  
  
Frodo: *Sigh* He'll never learn, will he?  
  
Sam: I'm afraid not mister Frodo.  
  
Frodo: Sam, you don't have to call me that!  
  
Sam: *Mutters* If I had my way, I wouldn't even call you that.  
  
Frodo: What did you say?  
  
Sam: Nothing!  
  
Boromir: Hey, this party is a bit boring.  
  
Aragorn: How did you come back to life? You had three arrows stuck in your chest!  
  
Boromir: The powers of the authoress! Hey, I'm not complaining about it!  
  
Aragorn: I am though.  
  
Luff: Whoa, this is getting out of control! We need to get onto the episode!  
  
Merry: She has a point you know.  
  
Luff: This episode they go to Kikuyu and.well that's it really. We do meet Mewtwo properly though and there's another development with Knuckles and Rouge.  
  
Merry: Shall I read the disclaimer?  
  
Luff: Yes please.  
  
Merry: They do not own the Sonic characters, Mewtwo or us, the Lord of the Rings characters. In fact all they own is the story and Gelest and Zelgan.  
  
Luff: Thanks Merry! *Gives him big hug*  
  
Merry: ^-^  
  
Gandalf: On with the episode!  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Episode eight: Sun, sand and.snogging?!  
  
As they neared the mansion on Kikuyu, they saw Gelest and Zelgan waving to them in the garden. They both wore casual t-shirts and shorts. They backed away so Eggman and Tails could land properly and when everyone was out, Gelest and Zelgan ran over.  
  
"Long time no see, it seems. But it's only been a few days in truth." Zelgan greeted but Gelest had noticed Shadow.  
  
~Is he the project from the ARK? He must be.~ She thought as she tried to discern his feelings. She found nothing extraordinary though. "And you must be Shadow. Feeling better from your little trip?" She asked and seeing his puzzled look, quickly laughed. "I forgot that you don't know who we are. I'm Gelest and this is Zelgan."  
  
"Yes I am feeling better thank you. Do you live here on your own?" He asked.  
  
"Yes, no one but us." But Zelgan stopped when she sensed something. "But maybe not." She whispered.  
  
"What's wrong Zelgan?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Something else is here. Wait, its Mewtwo! Oh what a time for him to show up!" She sighed.  
  
"Who's Mewtwo?" Shadow asked.  
  
"Someone who likes to destroy things for unknown reasons. But he's been particularly interested in this place since we beat him up." Zelgan explained. They saw something fly through the air and it landed about 50 feet away from them.  
  
They now could see Mewtwo properly for the first time. He stood on two legs and was mainly purple. His face was cat like and his eyes glowed an intense purple. It walked on the front of his feet and he stood with his shoulders back. Zelgan walked forwards a few steps before stopping.  
  
"What are you doing here?" She called out.  
  
"Same reason as always, Zelgan." His voice was cold and monotonous.  
  
"Come on you lot. It's better if we leave Zelgan to deal with him." Gelest whispered.  
  
"We have to help her!" Sonic announced.  
  
"We can't do anything and you can't either. What happened when you met him last time? He took over your mind and tried to kill one of your friends." She reminded him.  
  
"But I'm prepared this time." He retaliated.  
  
"If he can do it once, he can do it again. He has no scruples and wouldn't think twice about hurting someone. Let's go now!" She dragged him towards the door.  
  
"Then can we be nearby at least?" He said.  
  
"Of course we're going to stay near! You never know what he'll do." They stood in the open garage and watched the fight between Zelgan and Mewtwo.  
  
They circled each other warily when Mewtwo suddenly struck. He threw a black ball of energy at her, which she easily dodged. She stopped and struggled against Mewtwo as he tried to control her mind. Her face screwed up in concentration and soon Mewtwo was forced to give in. He sent out waves of psychic power at her, which hit her with full strength. She staggered back and Mewtwo took this opportunity to lift her up into the air.  
  
"Give up?" He hissed.  
  
"Never!" Zelgan gasped out as she was thrown to the floor. Sonic ran forward before Gelest could stop him and Mewtwo turned his head to him. In a blink of an eye, Sonic had frozen in his place.  
  
"Great! Trust him to not listen to what I say!" Gelest sighed. "No one else go out there ok?" The others nodded their heads apart from Tails.  
  
"We can't just sit here and let Zelgan be killed!" He shouted.  
  
"We're not. I have to wait for the right time, that's all." She stared in concentration at the fight. Mewtwo had now let Zelgan go and she had sunk down to her knees. She thrust her hand forward and sent out a beam of power. It hit Mewtwo and he flinched. This gave her the chance to get up but before she could do anything, something landed in between them.  
  
It was another Mewtwo and as Gelest prepared herself to help Zelgan, it put its arms out on either side of it and stopped them in their tracks. Sonic put his feet down on the ground and slowly, the others walked out.  
  
"Two Mewtwos! I've suppose you've come to help him?" Gelest asked.  
  
"No I have come to apologise. This Mewtwo is a clone of me and has become evil. I will take him away and deal with him." He put his arms down and Zelgan and the other Mewtwo could move. The Mewtwo, realising who it was stopped the fight and bowed its head. "This clone has gone out of control. I am the original Mewtwo and I learned a long time ago what happens because of fighting. We will leave you now." And with that they both floated into the air and sped away.  
  
Gelest ran over to Zelgan and bent down to her, checking to see if she was ok.  
  
"Don't worry, nothing's wrong with me. But I wonder if all the fights we had were with this clone?" She pondered.  
  
"Probably. Well now that's over, shall we get going?" Gelest stood up and the others strolled over.  
  
"Where are you going?" Tails asked.  
  
"We are all going on a small trip. Today seems to be a warm day so we thought we'd take you to Holus beach. We even packed a bag with some food in it and it'd be a waste if we didn't use it." Gelest explained. She entered the mansion and came out with a small shoulder bag. She grabbed Tails' arm as they set off for the beach.  
  
"I think you have some information to give me." She walked quickly ahead and Tails trotted next to her.  
  
Understanding what she meant, he proceeded to explain everything that had happened since they last left.  
  
"So they've got together at last have they? That's funny because I didn't notice it."  
  
"That reminds me. I wanted to ask you whether they had fallen out with each other because they haven't talked to each other once today." Tails said, glancing back at them, a concerned look on his face.  
  
"No they haven't, that's obvious. But I can't tell how they feel towards each other. Anyway, they don't have to be talking to each other all the time you know." They were now nearing the beach so Gelest walked faster again. She stood by it and breathed in the slightly salty air. It was the same as last time but now the water was clear and birds flew through the air.  
  
Tails took off his shoes and felt the sand in between his toes. He gazed around for a few moments, taking in the beauty of the place.  
  
"Wow, is it always like this?" He asked.  
  
"Unless there's been a storm. But yes, it is almost always like this." She walked over to the shade of a palm tree as the others arrived. Gelest walked out onto the jetty as Zelgan put out a blanket for everyone to sit on. While Eggman grumbled about sand being in his shoes, everyone else had had the sense to take theirs off. Everyone heard a splash and looking up, they saw that Gelest had dived into the water. She surfaced a moment later and seeing everyone sitting down, she called out,  
  
"Come on you lot! The water's lovely and warm!" No one moved though so she shrugged her shoulders as she climbed out. She stuck her wings out so they could dry. She sauntered over to where the group were and seeing everyone looking slightly bored she smiled as a plan formed in her mind.  
  
She bent down to Tails, Knuckles and Rouge and lunged out at them. She grabbed their arms and before they could do anything, she had run along the jetty and jumped in with them. When she landed, she let go of their arms and grinned at them as they surfaced.  
  
"What do you mean it's warm? I'm freezing!" Tails shivered as he swam to the shore.  
  
"Maybe it is cold to you. Well at least you've done something now." She smiled sweetly and he contented himself with sitting on the shore. The trip seemed to have woken up Rouge and Knuckles who treaded water next to each other. Just as Gelest was about to turn away, she heard a high- pitched squeak as Knuckles quickly rose out of the water. Rouge grinned cheekily at him and he dragged her under the water with him. Thrashing was seen for a few moments before they both emerged breathless. Gelest smiled as she saw the flicker of excitement in their auras.  
  
She swam to Tails who was looking at the action with interest and sat next to him.  
  
"No need to worry about any relationship problems. I believe they are getting on like a house on fire." She smiled slightly at him as she said this. She then grinned when she saw his face contort into disgust.  
  
"Did you have to tell me that?"  
  
"What? I just said they hadn't fallen out. I thought you wanted to know anyway." She raised an eyebrow in question.  
  
"Hmm. What's over there?"  
  
"Oh that's just a small island. It's all covered in forest and I don't go there often." They sat in silence for a while. "So then, what are you going to do now?"  
  
"Well, we've got somewhere to live now so we're going there tomorrow. But after that, I'm not sure. I have to go to school, something I've haven't done for a long time."  
  
"I've never been to school. What's it like?"  
  
"It might be nice for some but not for me. I've always been teased and they're all stupid anyway."  
  
"If you think they're stupid, then you should just ignore them. They're not worth the effort. Maybe things will be different this time. After all you have all of your friends to support you now. I'm sure Sonic would beat anyone up if you asked him to."  
  
"Maybe. Hey, were have Knuckles and Rouge gone?" They looked around and noticed that they had disappeared.  
  
"Don't know. They can't have gone far. Why don't we see if we can get Sonic to work out about Knuckles and Rouge? I'm sure Shadow and Eggman would help."  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"Who doesn't? We may even be able to get Zelgan to chip in." She stood up and strolled slowly up the beach with Tails to where the others were sitting. Shadow had dozed off and Sonic plus Zelgan were burying him in sand while Eggman looked on.  
  
When they stood by them, Zelgan looked up and put her finger to her lips.  
  
"Shush, we want to get all of him done before he wakes up. Luckily he took his shoes off or it would be even harder." She whispered as Sonic continued to scoop sand onto his body. His legs and waist had gone and his chest was rapidly disappearing too.  
  
"I don't think he will like it when he wakes up." But Tails smiled as he said this.  
  
"Are you going to help us or what?" Sonic demanded. Tails went in search of sand further away as most it around Shadow's body had been scooped up. As Tails kept Sonic busy, Gelest took this opportunity to tell Eggman and Zelgan her idea.  
  
"I thought it would be interesting to see if we can make a sport out of it." Gelest added.  
  
"I must admit, we'll have to tell him soon. If he doesn't get it within the next two days, he finds out." Eggman said. Tails and Sonic had now finished covering Shadow up and admired their handiwork. His head was the only thing which showed now and it was slightly eerie, as it looked like the rest of him wasn't there.  
  
As they saw his eyes flicker open, they panicked and quickly sat away from him, pretending he wasn't there.  
  
"So then, you never told me about your little encounter with Team Rocket." Gelest said loudly.  
  
"Oh yeah, where had I got to? Well they had locked up all of the pokemon so Knuckles started to break the door." But Tails was interrupted by Shadow.  
  
"Whose idea was it to cover me in sand? You've packed me in so tightly I can't get up!" Instead of being annoyed though as they expected, he smiled at them as he attempted to get up. He managed to free himself after wriggling around and sat up, brushing sand off himself. Suddenly remembering what Gelest had said, Tails started the game known as hedgehog baiting.  
  
"So then, have you noticed Knuckles and Rouge's strange behaviour recently? What do you think it could mean?" The question was obviously aimed at Sonic.  
  
"I don't know but whatever it is, it can't be good. What do you lot think about it all?"  
  
"Yes Gelest, you're good with behaviour in people." Zelgan suggested.  
  
"Hmm. I think that their relationship has improved considerably since I last saw them." Gelest replied.  
  
"Yes, they had had an argument. Maybe they just want to know each other better." Tails added.  
  
"Talking of them two, where have they gone?" Shadow asked.  
  
"I don't know. They were there one minute in the water and they next, they had disappeared." Gelest said.  
  
"Maybe they wanted some privacy so they could spend some quality time together." Eggman advised.  
  
"Why do I get the feeling that you know something that I don't?" Sonic asked, suspicious at the knowing looks they were giving each other as they spoke.  
  
"I don't know why you get that feeling but I certainly don't. Maybe they want a change in scenery." Shadow said.  
  
"I can remember when we first met Knuckles. He attacked Tails and me because he thought we were stealing the Master Emerald. All he ever thought about was keeping the Master Emerald safe whatever it cost." Sonic paused as the memory whizzed through his brain. "He never had time for friends then, even we never saw him that often."  
  
"Yes but that was a long time ago. He's had time to sort out his priorities since then. He still protects the Mater Emerald closely and would probably kill someone before letting them have even the smallest part of it." Tails reminded him.  
  
"You're probably right. I hope they come back soon, it's getting dark and I'm tired." Sonic stretched and yawned.  
  
"Why don't you go to sleep now? We'll wake you up when it's time to go." Shadow suggested.  
  
"Oh no, I don't trust you now. You might try and cover me in sand." Eggman pointed towards one end of the beach.  
  
"There they are. Now we can get going." They reached the group and both of them were glowing. Rouge held something tightly in her hand but she didn't say anything about it.  
  
"I suppose you've been waiting ages for us. Why don't we go back now?" Knuckles suggested as the others stood up.  
  
Everyone brushed sand off them and Gelest packed away the stuff before setting off towards the mansion.  
  
************************  
  
To get Knuckles' attention, Rouge quickly grabbed him by his waist. She grinned when he jumped out of the water, squeaking loudly. Before he could do anything though she kept him still.  
  
"Shall we go and explore that end of the beach?" Rouge whispered indicating a point further down the shore. Knuckles nodded his head and dragged her under the water. They swam under the sea, and watched as Gelest and Tails' legs moved to the shore. When Rouge started to turn blue from lack of oxygen, they surfaced and saw the group were now around the corner. They got out of the water and sat against a coconut tree near the shore.  
  
Rouge sat back and leant on her elbows while Knuckles sat beside her, his hands around his knees. He looked very thoughtful and Rouge soon noticed this. She sat up and leant against Knuckles.  
  
"What's wrong?" She asked.  
  
"I'm trying to decide on something. But I don't know how you would react." He replied.  
  
"Why don't you just say it and I'll tell you what I think." She suggested.  
  
"Yes but it depends on whether you've changed since we first met. If not then I've already made my choice."  
  
"But I have changed. At least I think so. I remember feeling very differently towards you then." This memory brought a smile to her face.  
  
"Me too. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if I told you. I want you to have this." He held something in his fist and as he opened his hand, she gasped and sat up.  
  
"Knuckles are you sure? I thought you were the protector of it." A small piece of the Master Emerald lay in his palm.  
  
"Recently I've been thinking about the events of the last few days. Can you remember what you said when we were in Brazil? You told me that someone seemed to have it in for us. What if there is? If I get injured and the Master Emerald is stolen, then who knows what could happen. But if one part of it is missing then no one could misuse it."  
  
"And you trust me enough to give me this?" She said it jokingly but he looked very serious.  
  
"Yes I do. You don't have to take it but if you do, then you may keep it. The choice is yours." Rouge looked at the Emerald and then at Knuckles but his face was blank.  
  
~I won't take it, I can't. I don't care about jewels anymore. I can't believe he's offering this to me.~ She thought, full of awe. ~All this time I've wondered if it could be true, that he really loved me and this has proven it to me. If he really wants me to have it then maybe I should.~  
  
She reached out her hand slowly and placed it on top of Knuckles'. She scooped the gem up and held it tightly in her hand.  
  
"Then I accept if you're sure of this. If you ever change your mind then I will give it back." She gazed into his eyes as she said this so he would know she was telling the truth.  
  
"I am sure. Keep it safe for me please and make sure the others don't see it." And for the first time ever, Knuckles held her in a loving embrace. She responded and they leant against each other for several minutes. She loosened her grip and kissed him on the cheek.  
  
"Thank you Knuckles. Do you know how sweet you are?" In return, he kissed her on the lips, which she greeted happily. Their lips brushed against each other and Knuckles applied more pressure. She stroked the back of his neck and he trembled slightly. She stopped moving her hand and they broke apart.  
  
Knuckles propped himself against the tree and moved Rouge slightly so she was leaning on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. They sat like this in silence for a while and watched the sun set. The sea was coloured pink and once it was just above the horizon, Rouge felt a chill set in and shivered as the wind ruffled her fur. Knuckles drew his arms around her tighter and twisted his head so he was looking at her.  
  
"Are you cold? Maybe we should go back." He commented. She snuggled herself against him and sighed.  
  
"I'm ok. Isn't it beautiful?" She said, looking at the sun, which had now nearly completely gone. "Gelest and Zelgan are very lucky to be able to see this whenever they want."  
  
"Then maybe we should do some travelling when we get back to Earth." He suggested.  
  
"I would like that. Shall we get going?" She wriggled herself out of Knuckles' grasp and stood up. He followed suit and they set off back towards the others. As they saw the group, they turned round and seeing them, started to get up and put the stuff away.  
  
"I suppose you've been waiting ages for us. Why don't we go back now?" Knuckles suggested as they reached the group. Making sure that everything had been packed away, they turned back towards the mansion.  
  
************************  
  
"So then, what did you do today?" Rouge asked Zelgan as they sat at the table eating dinner.  
  
"Oh not much. We buried Shadow in the sand when he dozed off."  
  
"Yes, I've still got it in between my toes." He interrupted, smiling.  
  
"Then we had to help him out." Zelgan added. She didn't really want to mention the conversation they had had with Sonic but this didn't put him off.  
  
"Yeah and then we had a rather interesting conversation about you two-" He started but was cut off by Gelest.  
  
"Oh you don't want to know about that! We just wondered where you had gone."  
  
"And what you were doing." Tails whispered and Gelest, who was sitting next to him, heard this and sniggered. Seeing Knuckles' face though, she quickly turned this into a cough.  
  
"What's wrong?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Oh nothing! Just a bit of food lodged down the wrong pipe, that's all." She busied herself with her dinner to avoid laughing even more.  
  
The rest of dinner was consumed in silence but when Gelest had finished, she had a sip of drink and asked,  
  
"Well, now we've told you what we did today, maybe you should tell us what you did." She watched carefully and smiled, expecting them to look uncomfortable but instead, she saw a look of secrecy. ~Hmm.what could that mean?~ She stared at them and found out that something very important had happened. ~But who did what? Hang on, Rouge was holding something earlier. Maybe that's what's happened. He has obviously given her something important.~  
  
"Gelest, why are you staring at me like that?" Rouge asked uneasily.  
  
"Hmm? I was just thinking about something. What were you saying?"  
  
"I was going to say that we just wandered around that's all. Nothing happened." She looked directly at Gelest as she said this. "That you might expect." Gelest raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You think so? Maybe it wasn't what I expected from you two but it definitely happened." Her eyes flickered to Rouge's hands and she understood what she meant.  
  
"Oh, I." But Gelest smiled reassuringly.  
  
"Don't worry, I won't tell the others." The rest of the group were totally puzzled by what had just gone on.  
  
"Tell us what?" Sonic asked.  
  
"I suppose I should tell you really." Gelest teased, ignoring Rouge's pleading looks. "It seems that Knuckles and Rouge had a small accident with a crab who was in a bad mood." Hearing this, Knuckles went brick red.  
  
"What do you mean?" Tails asked but Zelgan had a big grin on her face.  
  
"I mean that the crab was in a bad mood and well it pinched them.in certain areas." Rouge gasped silently when she understood what Gelest was saying.  
  
"Gelest!" She squeaked but the group were now laughing. While this was happening, Gelest winked at Rouge and she smiled too. Knuckles now looked outraged at the fact that Gelest had made up something like that but calmed down when he saw Rouge laughing as well.  
  
"Well I don't know about you but I'm going to bed. After all that crab seriously shook me. You would never believe the power they have in those claws." Knuckles stood up as he said this.  
  
"If you're going to bed then you can sleep in the same room as before." Zelgan said and everyone said goodnight before he left the room.  
  
"I'm going too, see you lot tomorrow." Rouge exited the room and Gelest followed her without saying a word. She caught up with Rouge and walked beside her.  
  
"How do you know about the Master Emerald?" Rouge asked quietly.  
  
"Oh so that's what it is. You made it very obvious to anyone who wanted to look closely enough. Luckily, no one would do apart from me so no one will know. But why do you have to be so secretive about it?" Gelest said.  
  
"It's very powerful and if it fell into the wrong hands then terrible things could happen." Rouge opened her hand and it twinkled in the moonlight.  
  
"I can see the power from here. Maybe you should put it away." She decided to play a little stupid. "But why does Knuckles trust you with it?" Rouge didn't know that Gelest knew about her relationship with Knuckles so she just shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"He just trusts me that's all." She said offhand.  
  
"Just trusts you? I think it's a little bit more than that." She hinted.  
  
"Oh, so you know too. I suppose Tails told you, he seems to tell everyone."  
  
"Oh no. Shadow worked it out for himself and Eggman half worked it out too. Zelgan knows from me and I saw it as soon as I met you two." During the conversation they had walked along the corridor and up the stairs.  
  
"Did you like my story about the crabs?"  
  
"Did you have to use crabs? I think it embarrassed Knuckles a lot. I liked it though." Gelest stopped in front of the door of the room that Rouge had slept in before.  
  
"Will you be going to bed now or saying goodnight to Knuckles?" Gelest grinned.  
  
"Wouldn't you like to know? I think I'll go and see him for a while." Gelest continued along the corridor as Rouge turned back to Knuckles' room.  
  
She opened the door slightly and looked around it. She saw a lump in the bed, which she could only assume was Knuckles.  
  
"Knuckles, are you awake?" She hissed but there was no reply so she shut the door behind her and stood by his bed. His eyes were closed and so he must have been asleep.  
  
"Always asleep at inappropriate moments. Nevermind, I'll just say goodnight." She leant towards him to give him a quick kiss but tried to back away as he suddenly sat up. He grabbed her and pulled her into the bed. They rolled around for several moments before Rouge finally gave up the struggle.  
  
"Knuckles, I thought you were asleep! Never, ever do this again! What's got into you?" She half shouted and his grin fell slightly.  
  
"I'm just happy that's all. I've never had anyone important in my life before." He let go of her and sighed. Suddenly realising that his words were true she embraced him.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm not mad. Just a bit surprised that's all. You're not the only one who's happy." He returned the hug and they sat like that for what seemed like an eternity.  
  
Yawning, Rouge tried to move but his grip kept her in place.  
  
"Knuckles, I'm really tired. Can you let go of me now?" She looked at his face and saw that his eyes were closed. "Knuckles, don't tell me you're asleep. I'm not going to fall for that trick a second time you know." She managed to remove herself from his grip but he still hadn't moved. She shook his shoulder slightly but he remained immobile, his breathing heavy and regular. ~He must be asleep.~  
  
She went to get out of the bed but found she didn't want to leave him. She looked at him, lying on his back with a small smile on his face. ~He looks so innocent and content with everything. Whenever I've seen him before, he's always been frowning and he looks so different now. I really am lucky to have someone like him.~ She got in beside him and nestled herself against his body. She breathed deeply and closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of his body beside her.  
  
************************  
  
"How did you know about their accident with the crabs?" Shadow asked.  
  
"Wasn't it obvious? I just have a knack of knowing about this sort of thing. Are you going tomorrow?" Gelest replied.  
  
"Yes, we had batter get to the apartment by the end of tomorrow. It was nice to see you again though." Tails said.  
  
"You too. Well, if you're going tomorrow I suppose we'd better go to bed now." Zelgan stood up and stretched. "I'll show you your rooms Shadow and Eggman." They followed her out of the room and she led them up the stairs.  
  
She showed them their rooms and watched as the doors opened and closed. When they had all gone, she strolled off down the corridor to her room.  
  
************************  
  
Knuckles woke up the next morning and saw Rouge beside him. His eyes widened when he first noticed her but he didn't move. After making sure she was still asleep, he shifted himself and put an arm around her. He concentrated on the warmth of her body when he felt her stirring.  
  
"Is it morning already? I feel so tired." She moaned when she had opened her eyes.  
  
"We can stay in bed a bit longer if you want." He suggested. They hugged each other and she rested her head against his chest.  
  
"Have any nightmares about crabs?" She asked.  
  
"Why did you have to remind me? That was so embarrassing!" He blushed at the memory of what Gelest had said.  
  
"I knew you would have said that. I saw you last night and you looked like a brick!" She giggled as she said this and even Knuckles chuckled slightly.  
  
Just then they heard a knock on the door and they froze. Rouge then dived under the covers and Knuckles quickly closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.  
  
"Knuckles, are you awake yet? It's after eleven now and we thought that as we were going soon, we should get you up. Knuckles?" It was Sonic and when he didn't hear anything, he opened the door. Just then, Gelest also appeared and stood by the door.  
  
~Hang on a minute, that bed's rather lumpy. ~She suddenly realised what was going on. ~Ew, that's disgusting! Well I suppose it's my duty to rescue them.~ She cleared her throat.  
  
"Why don't you go back down Sonic? I'll wake Knuckles up." She suggested.  
  
"Are you sure?" He asked.  
  
"Of course I am. I'll have him up in a shot." Sonic turned away and headed for the stairs back to the kitchen. Gelest entered the room and shut the door behind her. "You two can come out now." Knuckles sat up warily but Rouge didn't seem as troubled.  
  
"Thanks for saving us there Gelest." She said and Knuckles looked from Gelest to Rouge to Gelest again.  
  
"Am I missing something here?"  
  
"Don't worry, she knows. We should get up now before Sonic comes back again." She stood up and when Knuckles didn't move, she grabbed him and yanked him up into her arms.  
  
"And I don't think you'll want Sonic finding you. Or anyone else for that matter. Anyway, don't you think you should be a bit more careful? First the Master Emerald and now this." Gelest's tone grew worried.  
  
"How do you know about that?" Knuckles asked sharply.  
  
"I have my ways. The point is that if you don't want people to find out things, you have to be more careful. Now it may be that I'm just over observant but still." She explained and Knuckles and Rouge exchanged a look.  
  
"I must admit, we haven't been very careful about what we do. What are we going to do?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Just keep calm. It's doubtful anything will happen. After all, this island is deserted and Zelgan would have said if she had sensed anything. Now we really had better get going." Gelest opened the door and Knuckles and Rouge left, with Gelest following them.  
  
They entered the kitchen and everyone stopped talking. Rouge and Knuckles sat down at the table but Gelest remained standing.  
  
"I managed to wake them two after poking them a bit." Gelest said. She looked at Tails as she said this and he understood what she meant. He had to duck under the table to stop him from making retching actions and appeared a few moments later, giving Knuckles and Rouge very dodgy looks.  
  
"Are you ok Tails?" Gelest asked amiably.  
  
"Fine, fine." He replied offhand, too busy trying not to think about the two of them.  
  
Once the two of them had started eating breakfast, Eggman and Zelgan returned to the conversation they were having before.  
  
"So you're going to live in London now? I haven't been there in a long, long time. And school too. Not so bad for you three because you're all in your last year. What is the uniform like?" Zelgan asked.  
  
"The usual shirt and grey trousers. The blazers are navy blue and they wear dark blue and white striped ties with the logo at the bottom. Tails wears shorts and a orange and white striped tie." Eggman explained.  
  
"Did you just say s.s.shorts?" Tails said.  
  
"Yep, is there something wrong with that?"  
  
"I'm going to look like a nerd! I don't want to know anything else." Tails' eyes widened at the thought of him wearing shorts. The only plus side to this was that he didn't think about Knuckles and Rouge anymore.  
  
"Oh dear, are you sure? It might be important." Eggman looked nervous.  
  
"What might be important?" Sonic asked brusquely.  
  
"Um.when I was buying the house I had to fill in some forms with details of everyone." Seeing everyone's looks he added hurriedly, "No, no. I didn't have to tell them anything important, just ages and names. The problem is that if you're under sixteen, you need a guardian."  
  
"So you're now their guardian?" Shadow asked.  
  
"I managed to get away with Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge because you're all nearly sixteen but Tails is ten, and no way were they going to let a ten year old have no guardian. Now I would have got Sonic to be your guardian but they won't let anyone under eighteen be a guardian. Therefore I am now Tails' guardian." Eggman trailed off and the others (apart from Shadow, Gelest and Zelgan) sat in stunned silence.  
  
"I don't see a problem with it. It's not like you have to act like father and son or anything. But what about me and the Master Emerald?" At the mention of it, Rouge went slightly pink.  
  
"You are still Shadow but you're sixteen, so you don't have to go to school. They don't really worry about people until you're eighteen so we've got a few years. As for the Master Emerald.of course I wasn't going to mention it! What do you think the government would say if I told them that the only thing that could control the seven Chaos Emeralds was owned by one of the members of the household? Luckily they don't ask too many questions. Everything will be fine."  
  
"That's all right then. Tails, what do you think?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Anything for a normal life. As long as we don't get hassled I'm not bothered." He shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"A normal life? You're going to live with a bat, an echidna, two hedgehogs and a human and you think that's normal?" Gelest said ironically. ~And not just that.the Master Emerald, a research project, a mad scientist. Oh well.~ She thought to herself.  
  
"No worse than others I suppose. Now that you two have finished we can go." Tails said quickly.  
  
They stood up and walked down the corridor to the back entrance by the garage.  
  
"I assume you know why Knuckles and Rouge were late this morning?" Gelest asked Tails quietly.  
  
"Don't remind me! I had just managed to get it out of my head." He groaned.  
  
"It isn't that bad. At least their relationship is going strong. Call me sometime and tell me any news you have." They had now reached the garage and Tails and Eggman were getting their machines out.  
  
~Do not tell anyone what I am about to tell you. Although it may not matter now, I can foresee that something will happen. This event will cause the group to be split apart and you will face your greatest fear, even worse than the Finalhazard.~ Shadow heard in his mind. He looked around slowly and saw Zelgan staring directly at him. ~Yes it is me who is telling you this. One day you will find out things you never knew and you will not be the only one.~  
  
"Goodbye everyone! Hope you enjoy living on Earth and maybe we'll meet again!" Gelest called out as everyone got into the two planes.  
  
They rose into the sky and gradually grew smaller and smaller as the six of them headed to London.  
  
"Zelgan, do you think we should have told them?" Gelest asked.  
  
"No, I know they will make it through. And we will be there to help them. Although not in a way that they will expect." Zelgan said.  
  
"As long as you're sure." Gelest said as they walked back into the mansion.  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Luff: Ooh, our first mystery.  
  
S. Chensu: But not our last.  
  
Luff: Hey, how did you manage to get out of prison?  
  
S. Chensu: I used my marine shotgun. Anyway my darling sister, I think we need to have a talk about the fact you didn't try to help me out.  
  
Luff: Uh, well about that. I was going to but I had to grammar check the story and I just had so much to do that I forgot about...you.  
  
S. Chensu: Oh so you had so much to do but you had time to have a party?  
  
Luff: I didn't have a party!  
  
S. Chensu: Then what are they doing here? *Points to now very drunk Lord of the Rings characters*  
  
Luff: They just appeared! It was nothing to do with me, honestly!  
  
S. Chensu: Quite. Right you lot, time to go.  
  
*Group eye marine shotgun as one then sidestep out of the screen rapidly*  
  
S. Chensu: Right now that that lot are gone we can get on with the next episode.  
  
Luff: Next time you'll get a chance to meet Eternal Darkness characters. Yay! For all you people who have never heard of it, it's a VERY GOOD GAME. My sister thinks I shouldn't like it because I've never played on it, but hey, that's why you watch instead! ^-^  
  
S. Chensu: Eternal Darkness. *Drools*  
  
Luff: Umm, right. Anyways, read & review, lovely people! 


	9. The boring part

S. Chensu: Hello people, today we've got the characters from Eternal Darkness. If you don't know anything about the game then I should probably point out that all of them are dead apart from two and one we're not sure about.  
  
Michael Edwards: Can someone please tell me whether I'm dead yet or not?  
  
Pious Augustus: If I have my way then you will be!  
  
Alex Roivas: I thought I'd killed you already!  
  
Pious: Not quite missy! And now I will kill all of you! *Coughs* Again in nearly all cases.  
  
*All other characters appear*  
  
All: Not if we have a say in it!  
  
*Each person brandishes their best weapon. This includes Short Sword, Two- Edged Sword, Ram Dao Broadsword, Dual Flintlocks, Marine Shotgun, Mace, Saif, .303 Rifle, Elephant Gun and OICW Special Forces Rifle (set on grenade mode)*  
  
Luff: Oh, isn't she sad, people?  
  
Pious: I will get you one day! *Disappears* The darkness prevails.  
  
Ellia: What shall we do now?  
  
Maximillion Roivas (Yes, he is related to Alex Luff: Duh): Let's compare the horrible ways in which we all died. I'll start by telling you that I died in an asylum surrounded by rats because they all thought I was crazy *Eyes start rolling and spit flies everywhere*  
  
Paul Luther: I wonder why they thought that. Anyway, that's nothing compared to what happened to me. I was crushed to death by a terrifying monster! (Note from S. Chensu: This is my favourite death because the thought of a monk having his head explode makes me laugh lots Luff: He dies in three different ways, depending on what path you chose)  
  
Anthony: What about me then? I had a curse put on me and gradually became a zombie!  
  
Luff: *Coughs loudly* Yes, I'm sure we all want to hear your lovely stories but not now. You're making the readers sick.  
  
Edward Roivas (Yes, he's also related to Alex Luff: *Snorts*): Oh, sorry about that.  
  
Luff: And I should think so too, I don't want to mop everyone's dinners up thank you very much.  
  
S. Chensu: I'll do the disclaimer. We still don't own the Sonic characters but we do own the story, Zelgan, Gelest and for this episode only, Jemma.  
  
Luff: This episode the group settle down into their new flat and things are bought. That's why it's called "The boring part". But there will be kissing in this episode. If you are sensitive to kissing then I suggest you don't read this. Thank you.  
  
S. Chensu: You may now get on with reading. Sorry for interrupting you.  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Episode nine: The boring part  
  
As the group neared London, Sonic, Tails, Rouge and Knuckles began to get excited, as they wanted to see the apartment and the area in general. Eggman pointed out major things in London such as Big Ben and Tower Bridge as they flew past them. Shadow was too busy thinking about Zelgan's words though to listen to the others.  
  
~My greatest fear. Will I have to face it alone? When will it happen? Why am I even thinking about it? She was probably making it up to scare me. But she sounded so serious.~ He continued to think about Zelgan's words as they finally arrived in Bickley.  
  
The town was large and in the middle of it was the shopping centre and other things such as a cinema and restaurants. There were also shops on the streets near the centre. It was a Friday and traffic ran through the town centre along the roads. The houses were mainly on the outskirts and were mostly large and middle class. The block of apartments they were going to live at was next to Healy Park. The park had a pond as its main feature although there was also a half pipe and playground. The avenue, which led to the apartments, was new and the building stood at the end, surrounded by large houses.  
  
The apartments had balconies, made of white painted wood and people sat on them, talking to each other. The car park had several garages, which contained cars, and overall there was a sense of neatness. On one side of the building was a glass lift and all the apartments had large windows. The sign at the front read 'Garden Views' and the entrance was a revolving door.  
  
Eggman led Tails to one of the garages containing a car on one side. The planes were parked and once everyone was out, they were transformed back to the walkers. Eggman led them through the door and they entered a reception.  
  
On one side were post boxes for each flat and on the other was a desk, with a door leading to an office behind it. A woman sat at the reception and as they entered, she looked up and saw Eggman.  
  
"I'm glad you're back Dr. Ivo. Deliveries for your place have been coming in every day and you haven't been there to sort them out. I put everything inside the flat as you asked but it isn't sorted out or anything."  
  
"Thank you Janet. I don't have any more business for at least a week so I will be able to sort them out." Eggman said as they walked up the stairs. "Everyone that is Janet, the receptionist here. Very nice woman." Eggman explained as they finally got to the fifth floor. Sonic, who was at the front, stopped when he saw the huge pile of bags at the top of the stairs.  
  
"Who on Earth just left their stuff by the stairs here? I mean, Gucci, Versache. Who buys that stuff anyway?" He asked.  
  
"It's here, I hoped it would arrive before we did." Rouge said and she pushed through them to the bags. She counted them quickly and was soon satisfied. "And it's all here too!"  
  
"I'm sure that's very nice for you but as you may not have noticed, it's blocking the door to the flat." Eggman said.  
  
"We'd better move it then. If we get Tails to go in between the bags then he can open the door and we can get them in." Rouge suggested.  
  
"Why me?" Tails asked, looking at the mountain of bags.  
  
"Because you're the smallest. Come on, hop to it." He took the key that Eggman held in his hand and seeing a small gap, crawled into it. It was so dark that he didn't see the door and hit his head against it.  
  
"Ow!" He called out and he paused to put his hand to his head. When the throbbing had gone down slightly, he stood up and saw the keyhole. He opened the door and as it swung inwards, the bags fell onto the floor and Tails was pushed to the ground.  
  
"Tails, are you all right?" Sonic shouted when he saw the bags sliding downwards. He climbed in among them and found Tails flat on the floor, covered in bags.  
  
"Not bad but it would be nice if you could help me out." Sonic grabbed Tails' hand and yanked him up.  
  
"All we have to do is get them in now, but where are we going to put them?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"We can put them in the living room for the moment." Eggman said and they looked into the flat.  
  
Now that the level of the bags had sunk, they could see that the main part was one big room, which combined a living room, dining room and kitchen together. The floor was not carpeted but instead had polished floorboards. The walls were white and the area was crowded with many a box. The only unwrapped things were the table, cupboards and electrical appliances. Sonic and Tails who were in the flat already grabbed a bag each and plonked them down on the table. Rouge and Eggman followed, carrying two bags each, which were also put on the table. Knuckles and Shadow started a chain towards it and soon all the bags were in.  
  
Everyone except for Eggman took this opportunity to take in their surroundings. The table was in the kitchen area and it took about a third of the space overall. Eight doors in total lined the walls of the main room, six that obviously led to the bedrooms and two for the bathrooms.  
  
"Now then, you can decide which rooms you want if you wish. My room is that one there, and those are the bathrooms," Eggman said, pointing to some of the doors as he said so. "But you can choose from any of the others. At the moment they only have the basics but we can worry about decorating later." Not sure what to do, the others went to each room in turn to look at them.  
  
"I think Rouge is going to need the one with the biggest cupboard." Sonic joked.  
  
"Yeah and Knuckles will have to have the one next to hers." Tails added quietly.  
  
"What was that?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"Oh nothing. If you ask me, I think this one has the biggest cupboard."  
  
"I think I agree with you there Tails. I'll have this one then, if no one minds." Rouge said as they looked in the last room.  
  
"Who wants to be next to Rouge? Anyone, anyone at all? How about you Knuckles?" Shadow suggested, smiling.  
  
"I don't mind." He replied, shrugging his shoulders.  
  
"Well, that's two down and three to go. Who's going to be on the other side of Knuckles?" Tails asked.  
  
"Seeing as you two are best friends, won't you want rooms next to each other? If so, you can have them two over there and I'll have this one." Shadow proposed.  
  
"Sounds good to me. What about you Tails?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Yeah, that's ok with me. What about all of these other deliveries?" He said, looking around at the boxes.  
  
"They are mainly the pieces of furniture for the living room and a couple of other things." Eggman explained.  
  
"Did you go to Jade?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Yes, yes. You can check it first if you want. We had to reach a compromise in the end." Eggman said as Rouge lifted the flap of the biggest box.  
  
"Not too bad I must say. I assume it's a three piece suite?"  
  
"Yes it is. The other boxes contain a couple of rugs which Jade suggested to me and a coffee table." Rouge rummaged in it and the others looked at the sofa. It turned out to be black and leather while the rugs were grey and white. The coffee table was made of black wood and Rouge inspected it.  
  
"I would say that you have done very well, for a man." She said.  
  
"You wouldn't believe how tiring it is, doing all of that shopping in a couple of days." Eggman said.  
  
"Shall we get the sofa out?" Tails asked.  
  
"Why not? If we don't we won't have anything to sit on." Sonic pointed out.  
  
Eggman ripped the box apart and soon pieces of cardboard littered the floor. Together, Eggman, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and even Shadow moved the sofa along the floor. Rouge told them where to put it and played the role of a fussy person very well.  
  
"Put it right there! Now move it a bit to the left, left I said not right!"  
  
"How were we supposed to know you meant your left?" Eggman complained.  
  
"Perfect! Now just the two armchairs to go." She said happily.  
  
"No, not more lifting! I think I've done permanent damage my back." Sonic said.  
  
"Of course you haven't! If you had you would be screaming in agony." She scolded. The group sighed as they set themselves to the task of moving the armchairs too. They were in place a lot faster than the sofa had been and soon the five of them had collapsed on any available bit of furniture.  
  
"Men, absolute wimps! I'll do the rug myself then." She looked at the two rugs and deciding on one, spread it out in the middle of the three-piece suite. "That doesn't look so bad. Now the table and we're done." But try as she might, the table would not move. "I don't suppose one of you would actually help me please?"  
  
"If you insist." Tails said as he rose from his seat. Now there were two people, the table was easier to lift and when that was in place too, the space didn't look too bad.  
  
"Now that that's done, we should go into the town and get your uniforms." Eggman said and Shadow smiled slightly. The others sighed and stood up.  
  
They left the flat and trudged down the stairs, Rouge moaning along the way.  
  
"I hate uniforms, they leave nothing to the imagination." Tails who was by Shadow gave him a nudge.  
  
"I'm sure Knuckles wouldn't mind that." He whispered and Shadow grinned.  
  
"Hey you two, I did hear that you know." Rouge rebuked. Tails looked at Shadow and they both laughed. Rouge rolled her eyes and walked faster down the stairs.  
  
"That must mean it's true then." Shadow said. By now, they had reached the entrance and Eggman led them to the garage.  
  
"The next three days will be like this one in that there will be lots of shopping so while this is nice for Rouge it will be hell for us." Eggman said as they stood in front of it. He opened the door and got out a set of car keys. "I had a bit of spare time so I got a car. That's the car you saw earlier."  
  
They looked at the car and it turned out to be a purple Ford Galaxy (Note from S. Chensu: my favourite car!). Eggman got into the driver's seat and reversed the car out. While the others got into it, Eggman closed the garage door. Once everyone was in and belted, they set off for the town centre.  
  
They soon arrived and after parking the car, they headed for the shopping centre. It was called the Chequers Centre and they entered it. As it was the summer holidays, many people were walking around.  
  
"The uniform shop is this way." Eggman said, pointing down the floor. The four of them moaned and followed him very reluctantly. Rouge soon became interested in the shops and Knuckles had to practically drag her away from them. They stopped dead when they saw a window full of blazers, jumpers and pleated skirts.  
  
"Look at all that uniform, doesn't it make you shiver?" Sonic said.  
  
"Try not to say that word Sonic, it gives me the collywobbles." Tails replied.  
  
"Uniform." Shadow said for fun. He stopped though when he received an evil glare from Rouge.  
  
"Oh why couldn't you have said he wasn't sixteen? I can't stand him being so happy in the face of our misery." Rouge complained.  
  
"Because then I'd have five of you looking depressed at the sight of this shop. No thank you, four is enough for me. Don't think I enjoy this either." They entered the shop and a woman came up to them.  
  
"My name is Jemma. Need any help?" She asked.  
  
"Yes, do you have uniforms for Maples High School and Inverio Primary School?" Eggman asked.  
  
"Getting ready for the new term? You're not the only ones. Come this way and we'll see what we can find." She led them down the other end of the shop where blazers hung on mannequins. "What size are they all then? And how many for each school?"  
  
"All of them are size ten. Three for Maples and one for Inverio." Eggman replied.  
  
"One of you not go to school then?" She asked as she searched the racks.  
  
"Yes, I've finished it now. I've just come to enjoy the others' looks of misery." Shadow said.  
  
"Start of term blues eh? Don't worry, we all had to go to school one time or another." Luckily she didn't see the looks that everyone gave Shadow. "Here we go, three blazers. Why don't you try them on while I get a jumper for your friend." She handed Knuckles, Rouge and Sonic a navy blue blazer each and they looked at them with despair.  
  
"Do we have to try them on?" Sonic asked.  
  
"We may as well." Rouge sighed as she slipped into it. She looked down at herself, shook her head and crossed her arms. Knuckles who was watching her, laughed. "What?" She asked, annoyed.  
  
"I've never seen a woman look so irritated when trying on clothes! I didn't think it was possible that's all." He explained.  
  
"Yeah well are you surprised? And what about you?" She indicated the blazer in his hands. He looked at it and shook his head.  
  
"Oh no, I'm not putting this thing on." When Rouge heard that, she walked over and shoved him into it. He struggled wildly but she didn't stop. When it was finally on, he stood in it for about three milliseconds before trying to get it off.  
  
"Oh no you don't!" She threatened and grabbed his arms tightly.  
  
"Ow, get off me Rouge!" He shouted, trying to remove her grip. In response, she frog marched him over to the mirror. "Keep that mirror away from me! I don't want to see myself!" He said, twisting his head away.  
  
"But I want you to!" She growled and forced him to look at the mirror. He saw himself and Rouge holding his arms to keep him still. "Now then, that wasn't so bad was it?" She whispered. Just then, Sonic appeared and stood behind them.  
  
"Are you all right there Knuckles? I'm surprised you managed to keep him still Rouge." He said. The three of them looked at themselves in the mirror. "Don't we look awful? I hate uniforms of any sort." Sonic commented.  
  
"Thanks Sonic, you've just improved this situation a lot." Rouge said sarcastically.  
  
"She doesn't appreciate being told she looks terrible." Knuckles whispered to Sonic.  
  
"Oh! I meant that uniforms don't improve the appearance at all." He corrected.  
  
"I quite agree. I wonder what Tails looks like?" Rouge asked.  
  
They wondered over to where Tails was staring at a red jumper with distaste. Rouge took the jumper from him and put it on him.  
  
"It really clashes with your fur." She commented.  
  
"I noticed." He said and he turned to look at them. "But you don't look much better so." He smiled.  
  
"I don't think you should have said that." Knuckles said.  
  
"He's telling the truth. What's wrong with that?" Rouge asked.  
  
"So when we say that, you get mad but it's ok for him?" Sonic said. She nodded her head and he sighed. "Women, they can never make up their mind." Eggman and Jemma came back.  
  
"Is everything ok?" She asked. They nodded their heads and handed over the blazers and jumper. "From what Mr. Robotnik has been telling me, you're new students. That means we'll have to sort you out with trousers etc. too." She walked over to another rack, which had grey clothes on it. She picked out two pairs of trousers, a pair of shorts and a pleated skirt. "Unfortunately you have to wear pleated skirts. I remember never liking them." She said as she passed them over. Rouge glared at the skirt with disgust. It was long and very unattractive, even to year sevens.  
  
"I've got an idea." She suddenly said and she slipped the skirt on. It reached down to her knees but after rolling it up a bit, it looked a lot better.  
  
"That's what I used to do with my skirt too." Jemma said.  
  
"That looks at lot better. What do you think?" She asked.  
  
"It looks all right to me. Tails, are you ok?" Knuckles asked, noticing the look on his face.  
  
"S.s.s." He stuttered.  
  
"Shorts, they're called shorts." Shadow said.  
  
"Are you sure I have to wear shorts?" Tails asked.  
  
"I'm afraid you do. These schools are quite strict about uniform unfortunately." Jemma said. Sonic and Knuckles didn't want to put the trousers on so they laid them on their hips.  
  
"They look the right size, don't they?" Sonic said.  
  
"Yep. Well, that's us done." Knuckles replied. They passed the trousers over and they were put with the other clothes.  
  
"Not quite yet. You still need shirts and ties." She walked over to a shelf and picked up a pile of shirts. "That should be enough for you boys but you need tailored shirts." She said and she took some different shirts. "Can someone count the shirts please? I probably took too many out." Sonic and Tails counted them between them.  
  
"There are fifteen shirts and five of the other ones." Tails said once the counting was done.  
  
"That's enough isn't it? And now just the ties." She went behind the counter and placed four ties on the desk.  
  
"I've just thought of something. They're probably going to need more trousers etc." Eggman said.  
  
"Oh so they will." She quickly took out some more trousers, shorts and skirts and placed it on the increasingly large pile. "That's quite a lot you got there. This is going to need a fair amount of plastic bags." She started putting in the prices for the items and Tails sat down.  
  
"I'm really tired. Can we go home soon?" He asked, while yawning.  
  
"Just got to get some food for tonight. If you take your bags, you can go back to the car while I get the food." Eggman suggested.  
  
"Ok then." He replied and took the bag, which Jemma held out to him.  
  
"Here's your bag." Three more bags sat on the desk, which she was gradually filling with clothes. "Right that's everyone's bags. But I've noticed you're not carrying anything.here you go, you can take the blazers." She said, passing them to Shadow.  
  
"But I don't want to carry something that I'm not going to use." He complained.  
  
"Nonsense, it won't do any harm to help your friends here." She said as Eggman paid for the clothes. "Thank you for coming here."  
  
"Bye!" The others said together before leaving the shop. Eggman gave Shadow the car keys.  
  
"You lot go back to the car. I shouldn't be long." He said before turning away. The others walked back to the car and put the bags in the boot.  
  
"I'm glad that's over." Sonic said as they sat in the car.  
  
"Yes but we've still got another two days of this." Tails said.  
  
"At least you're actually buying stuff. I just stand there, bored out of my head." Shadow said.  
  
"But you don't have to go to school! Maybe we can go and get some decorating done. That requires the use of brains." Rouge commented.  
  
"Great, we can go and get ourselves gassed by paint." He said.  
  
"There is such a thing as non smelling paint you know." She pointed out.  
  
"It doesn't matter if we flunk school because it's our last year." Sonic stated.  
  
"But it's not my last year!" Tails wailed.  
  
"Yeah but you're clever so it doesn't matter. And you never know, something may happen and we'll get to skive off." Knuckles said.  
  
"Yeah, imagine if one of us got hurt and the others had to help them." Sonic pictured.  
  
"That may not necessarily a good thing you know." Shadow looked very serious.  
  
"Why do you say that? Do you know something we should know too?" Tails asked.  
  
~Do not tell anyone what I am about to tell you.~ Zelgan's prophecy came back into his mind. "No, nothing. But you never know what could happen." He said.  
  
"Yeah, we /might/ not have to do anything. We /might/ be able to spend the rest of our days with no cares. There's no point worrying about what could happen because it's now that's important." Knuckles observed.  
  
"I agree with Knuckles. If it happens, it happens. Where is Eggman? He's taking his time." Rouge sighed.  
  
Just then, they saw Eggman walking towards the car with some plastic bags in his hands. He pointed to the boot and Sonic got out to open it.  
  
"Thank you Sonic. Now we can go back and have an early night." He said as he got into the driver's seat. He turned the car on and they set off back to the flat.  
  
They soon arrived at the apartments and as they entered the reception, loaded with bags, Janet called out,  
  
"Mr. Ivo, some more deliveries came while you were gone. They're up in your flat."  
  
"Thank you Janet. Have a good evening." Eggman replied as they set off up the stairs. They entered the flat and dumped the bags on the sofa. Eggman started to put the food away with the help of Rouge while the others looked in the newly arrived boxes. There were three boxes in total. One contained a TV, another a radio and the last one had a huge cabinet in it.  
  
"You can get this lot sorted while I start the dinner." Eggman decided. The group heaved the cabinet across the floor and placed it so that the three-piece suite faced it.  
  
"I assume the TV goes in the cabinet?" Shadow commented.  
  
"Yes it does. I think it goes in that part with the two doors." Tails said.  
  
"But how are we going to connect the wires together?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Leave that to me. I can sort that out." Tails said. While the others lifted the TV and set off across the floor to the cupboard, Tails went behind the cabinet. He saw the TV enter the space and picked up the connections on the floor. The others sorted out the bags while they waited for him to finish wiring it up.  
  
Suddenly, there was a spark and a juddering sound and Tails landed on the ground.  
  
"Tails, what happened?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Just.got.shocked.by.TV." He said hoarsely. His hair had become frazzled and was now sticking out at odd angles.  
  
"Maybe we should leave the rest to Eggman." He suggested. As he was saying this, Eggman walked over to the group.  
  
"Get him onto the sofa. I'll get him a blanket." He disappeared into one of the bathrooms and came out with a duvet. "Wrap this around him." Knuckles was moving the bags while Sonic and Shadow helped Tails to the sofa. Rouge took the duvet and put it around him. When this was done, Eggman sat down next to him. "How do you feel Tails?" He asked.  
  
"A bit tired and my hand feels weird but apart from that, I think I'll live." He replied.  
  
"I think you should go to bed now and we'll get you something to eat later." He helped Tails to his room and got him into his bed. Tails closed his eyes and fell asleep. Eggman left the room and carried on with the dinner.  
  
"Will he be ok?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Yes, he just needs dome sleep. His heart has just been put under a lot of strain and a few hours of sleep will help it return to its normal pulse. Leave him be until later and we'll see if he's awake then." Eggman explained.  
  
While the dinner was cooking, Eggman went around the back of the TV cabinet and inspected the wires.  
  
"It looks like one of the cables are faulty. I had better go back to the shop and get a new one tomorrow." He returned to the dinner and soon it was ready. Rouge set out the plates and a few minutes later, they were all eating.  
  
"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Sonic asked.  
  
"I was thinking that we could go and get everything for painting the place. We also need to get stuff for the two bathrooms." Eggman said. The rest of dinner was eaten in silence and when everyone was finished, Rouge stretched.  
  
"Well I'm pooped so I'm going to bed now. Anyone else going?"  
  
"I think we all want to get some sleep. Who's going to check on Tails?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"I'll go." Sonic volunteered.  
  
"We can do the washing up tomorrow if you want. If you check on Tails first, you can tell us if he's awake." Eggman suggested. Sonic left the table and peeked around Tails' door. His eyes were still closed so he shut the door.  
  
"Still asleep. Well, see you lot tomorrow." He said before leaving the room as Eggman stacked the dishes by the sink.  
  
"Night everyone." He said before going to his room too. Shadow walked over to the balcony and stepped out onto it.  
  
"Aren't you going to bed?" Rouge asked.  
  
"I'm not tired and I need to do some thinking anyway." He replied. They left him alone on the balcony and as they stood in front of Rouge's room, Knuckles gave her a hug.  
  
"Night Rouge." He said.  
  
"Goodnight Knuckles." She whispered and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. She let go of him and entered her room. He smiled slightly to himself and was about to enter his room when he heard Shadow mutter,  
  
"The group will be split apart.but when will it happen?" Knuckles frowned and considered asking Shadow what he meant but he might accuse him of eavesdropping. He shrugged his shoulders and walked into his room. "And how will the group be split?" Shadow added. He looked up at the sky and saw the full moon shine down on him. "But Knuckles is right. There is no point worrying about what could happen.except for that doesn't help me." He sighed and feeling his eyes itch, left the balcony and headed for his bed.  
  
************************  
  
Tails woke up the next morning feeling a lot better than last night.  
  
"Hmm.Eggman was right. Some sleep did do me good." He got out of his bed and left his room. No one else was up yet so he searched the cupboards and found some cereal. After pouring himself a bowlful, he walked out onto the balcony. The sun shone down and warmed him up. The park nearby was a vibrant green and a few joggers could be seen. The pond reflected the blue sky and ducks sat around the edge, sunbathing. He heard a movement behind him and saw Shadow walking out onto the balcony.  
  
"Feeling better?" He asked.  
  
"Yes thank you. Isn't it a lovely day? And to think, we're going to spend it in a stuffy shop." He sighed.  
  
"Maybe if we get it done quickly, we can go to the park. We can't have that much more to do." He paused. "And aren't you looking forward to decorating?" He asked, jokingly.  
  
"Oh yes, decorating is my most favourite way of passing the time on a lovely sunny day such as this." He said sarcastically.  
  
"No need to be like that. That's too much sarcasm for a ten-year-old boy. I can imagine Rouge will be excited though." He stopped and he stood in silence while Tails finished his breakfast off. "Tails, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Of course you can." He said, putting the bowl down on the ground.  
  
"Do you think the Biolizard is still out there?"  
  
"It might be. And if not, then maybe the professor created something else. Why do you ask?"  
  
"I've got the feeling that something is out there, somewhere. Zelgan said- " But he stopped suddenly.  
  
"Said what?"  
  
"She said that there's something out there more dangerous than it. She also told me that everyone would be split apart and I would have to face it."  
  
"Do you think this will happen?"  
  
"That's what I've been wondering. If it does, then that just makes me more afraid."  
  
"It seems to me that there is evil everywhere in the world and we all have to fight it sometime, even if we've been involved with it in the past." He looked at Shadow pointedly as he said this. "You can't tell what it is yet because you don't know what your fears are. She wouldn't have told you this if it wasn't going to happen."  
  
"I suppose so."  
  
"It is obviously meant to happen though. And if it is meant to happen, then you can only succeed. Whatever happens, we'll always be there to support you even if only in your mind."  
  
"Thanks for talking to me Tails. Do you know you're very wise for your age?"  
  
"Other people say that too. I just tell the truth. Are you going to have breakfast?"  
  
"I suppose I should." They entered the flat and Tails sat at the table while Shadow got himself some breakfast. While he was eating, Tails got up and brought his bag of uniform to the table.  
  
"Would you look at that? Shorts! What happens when it's winter? I'm going to freeze."  
  
"Maybe you wear trousers in the winter. I'm glad I don't have to go though."  
  
"I know. All those people who think they understand you just because they know your name."  
  
They stopped talking when Eggman emerged from his room, stretching.  
  
"Morning you two. Eating breakfast already? You must have been up early." He greeted.  
  
"About half an hour. Should we get the others up?" Tails asked.  
  
"No, no. There's no rush so they can have a lie in. Anyway, how are you feeling Tails? You certainly look all right." Eggman inquired.  
  
"All of that sleep did me good, I feel a lot better now. Are the showers working yet?" Eggman nodded his head. "I'm going to have one then." He headed for the nearest one and entered the room. As he left the room, Sonic entered.  
  
"Hi everyone. Have you seen Tails this morning?"  
  
"Yes, he's just gone for a shower. Will you be having breakfast?" Eggman asked. Sonic nodded his head and he grabbed a bowl.  
  
"So then, another day of shopping eh? Do you think we'll survive the weekend?" He joked.  
  
"Probably not. At least it's not uniform shopping today." Shadow commented.  
  
"Morning everyone." They heard Rouge call out as she walked into the room. "At least I'm not the last one up. Tails and Knuckles are still in bed by the looks of things."  
  
"No I'm not. I was the first one out actually." Tails contradicted as he entered the room looking clean.  
  
"I'm corrected. Just Knuckles then." She said.  
  
"Well I suppose I should have a shower now." Shadow remarked. Sonic drained the last of the cereal and stood up.  
  
"Me too. I'll see you lot in a minute." They both left the table and Rouge put Sonic's bowl away before getting one herself.  
  
"That reminds me, I should have some breakfast as well." Eggman commented and he put two slices of toast in the toaster. While he waited for them to come up, he started to get the sink ready for washing up. Once the toast had popped up, Eggman took a plate and put one on it as he ate the other. As he finished his toast, Shadow and Sonic emerged from the bathrooms.  
  
"That feels better." Sonic said as he walked to the table.  
  
"Well now there's a bathroom free, I'll go and have one. Will someone go and wake Knuckles up please?" Eggman asked as he left for the bathroom. Tails and Shadow looked at Rouge.  
  
"What? Oh I suppose you want me to wake him up." She stood up and strolled to Knuckles' room. She knocked on the door. "Knuckles, are you awake?"  
  
She heard a grunting noise and she opened the door, only to be nearly knocked over by Knuckles as he flew through the air. "Knuckles, could you stop trying to kill me for a moment please?" He landed on the ground and smiled apologetically.  
  
"Sorry about that. I was just practising my karate skills that's all. I have to keep in shape you know. So then, what did you want?"  
  
"How rude! Not a hello or anything! You would have thought." But she stopped when he shut the door and caught her lips in a kiss. She smiled when they broke apart. "Well you've paid a little bit of your debt at least."  
  
"At little bit? I'll have to punish you for that." He jumped into a fighting pose but seeing her scared look, started laughing. "Don't worry, I was only joking."  
  
"You had better have breakfast now because we've all been up for." She started.  
  
"A lot less time than me." He finished. "I've already had breakfast and I'm clean too."  
  
"You've just been doing lots of movement for a least a couple of hours and you think you're clean? Think again mister." And with that, she dragged him out of his room towards the empty bathroom.  
  
"Rouge let go of me! You're embarrassing me." He said as he went a wonderful shade of magenta. Tails and Shadow sniggered but Sonic just looked on confused.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll have you clean in no time!" She replied and when they both were in the bathroom, she locked the door. They heard distinctly loud voices outside the bathroom singing,  
  
"Rouge and Knuckles in the bathroom," Shadow started.  
  
"Ew, I don't want to know!" Tails finished and they both laughed.  
  
"What's so funny you two? Is it something I should understand?" Sonic asked confused.  
  
"No Sonic, I don't think you'd understand it." Shadow reassured.  
  
"They are so immature." Rouge said, in a vain attempt to calm down Knuckles' face, which was varying between crimson and blood red. "Why don't you have a shower? Otherwise your cheeks may explode with all that red." Knuckles nodded his head and she wondered around while he was washing.  
  
He didn't take long and soon he was finished. She hugged him when he had got out and breathed in deeply.  
  
"That's better. Now you don't smell of sweat and exercise." She remarked.  
  
"Was it really that bad?" He asked.  
  
"No not really but it's much nicer to not have to hold your breath all the time. Especially if you want to repay that debt." She smiled slyly.  
  
"You and debts. How much do I owe you now?" He asked.  
  
"Who cares about the amount? I'll tell when all that's due has arrived." And she lunged forward to shove her tongue in his mouth. He nearly choked at the shock of the muscle entering his mouth and Rouge put her hands on his back to stop him from falling over. He remained stiff even when she edged him backwards so he leant against the wall. She started to stroke his back and he slowly began to relax. Before, he had been resisting Rouge's attempt to engage him in a response but now he started to go with the flow.  
  
Things had started to get heated when they heard a knock on the door. Knuckles tried to break away but Rouge wouldn't let him, and she even put more pressure on his mouth.  
  
"Hello, are you two ready yet? We've been waiting here for ages." They heard Tails say. By now Rouge was finding it hard to keep Knuckles still and seeing the panicked look in his eyes, she rolled hers and finally loosened her hold on him. He pulled away from her and she put her finger to his lips.  
  
"Don't say a word." She whispered. "Sorry Tails, we had a bit of trouble in here. Knuckles refused to get in the bath so I had to force him to." She said loudly before unlocking the door.  
  
She glared at Tails before walking out and Knuckles followed her, keeping his head down.  
  
~Oh.my.god. Ew, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross.~ Tails continued to think as he trailed behind them. The others were standing by the door looking very bored until they saw the three of them.  
  
"Now we can get going! What were you doing anyway?" Shadow asked.  
  
"You don't want to know." Tails said loudly. The look on Tails' face told Shadow everything he needed to know.  
  
"Oh, I see." He raised an eyebrow at them and seeing Knuckles' embarrassed look, grinned.  
  
They left the flat and as they sat in the car, Rouge tried to link arms with Knuckles and sit closer to him but he shrugged her off. She glowered at him but he ignored her. She was about to shout at him but she stopped herself just in time.  
  
~Keep calm Rouge, he's just a bit irritated that's all.~ She thought, breathing in deeply to keep herself composed. ~That doesn't mean he can ignore me though! I'll have to make him pay for that.~ She added. The car started to move and she contented herself with looking out of the window as landscape went past.  
  
They soon rolled into the car park of the largest DIY store and Sonic nudged Tails awake.  
  
"What? What? Oh, we're here at last." Everyone got out of the car and they headed through the door. It was so big that it seemed to contain everything needed to build your own house, let alone decorate it. The store had been split into different sections and looking at the banners hanging from the ceiling, the group headed towards the paint section.  
  
Rouge's eyes lit up when she saw row upon row of paint cans and as she already had several ideas for what she wanted, she immediately started to compare the different shades of lilac available. The others meanwhile wandered along the shelves, pausing occasionally to frown at the pots. Reaching a decision was going to be harder than they thought as they had no idea what would go with what. Feeling bored, Knuckles strolled over to where Rouge was, smiling slightly as she looked at two different shades.  
  
"Having trouble making your mind up?" She asked, seeing his empty hands.  
  
"I'm not the only one." He replied, indicating the two cans.  
  
"Which one do you think I should have?" He stared at the two colours, unable to see a variation between them.  
  
"They're exactly the same!" She glared at him and rolled her eyes.  
  
"You're a man, of course you would say that!" She gave one of the pots to him. "This one is darker, see?" He glanced from one to the other.  
  
"Hmm, I suppose there is a small difference. I think this one." He pointed to the lighter shade.  
  
"You really think so?" She asked happily and she put the other one away.  
  
"Now you've done that, I don't suppose you could-" He stopped, embarrassed by what he wanted to ask her but she seemed to understand him.  
  
"Let's see. Your room is quite shady so we need a warmer colour. Orange or yellow is probably the best choice. It all depends on which one you prefer though." She said, shrugging her shoulders.  
  
"I think I like yellow better." He said and they had a quick look at that section. After picking a few, Rouge looked at them critically before choosing one.  
  
"I think this one is probably the best. It's bright but not brash. What do you think?" She passed the pot to him and he stared at it.  
  
"That looks fine." She raised an eyebrow and he looked directly at her. "It's great, honest. It's just that I think I'm feeling the affects of shopping already." He sighed and she hugged him tightly.  
  
"Come on, you're supposed to be brave and strong! Surely a little bit of shopping can't be that bad?" She asked, a grin in her face.  
  
"No comment." He muttered, seeing the others coming towards them.  
  
"So then, managed to find some paint?" Eggman asked. It was at this point that Knuckles and Rouge saw they all carried pots of paint in their hands.  
  
"Yeah but how did you manage to chose your colours?" Knuckles enquired.  
  
"Oh we got someone to help us." Sonic said.  
  
"You're going to need at least four pots for your rooms." Eggman commented and taking some more off the shelf, they placed them along with the others in the trolley that Eggman suddenly produced.  
  
They continued their shopping, now looking for curtains for Knuckles and Shadow's rooms and carpet. Desks and shelves had already been fitted so there wasn't anything else to worry about, at least not any other basics. As Tails sensibly put forward, they should leave posters and other things until later. By the time they got to the checkout, Eggman had 'tired himself out' and so Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles were pushing the trolley together, because it was so heavy. They took the few minutes of Eggman paying for everything to rest before dragging the trolley back to the car.  
  
"Did we have to do all of this today?" Sonic gasped as he dropped the last can of paint into the boot.  
  
"Careful with them, you'll spill it everywhere!" Eggman scolded as he sat in the car.  
  
"Yeah Sonic!" Tails added in a childish voice and Sonic glared at him.  
  
"All you've done is sit there! You can't complain at me!" Before Tails could reply, Eggman got out of the car and everyone turned to him.  
  
"Right you lot, I'll get this lot home and start the painting. You should go and get your stuff for school."  
  
"What stuff for school? Haven't we got it all yet?" Sonic asked and Eggman shook his head.  
  
"No, not more shopping!" Tails wailed.  
  
"What about me? I haven't got anything to do." Shadow said.  
  
"You can go with them or go home."  
  
"Just school stuff then? Nothing else?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"Well there are a few other things but they can wait for the moment." Eggman explained.  
  
"I suppose we should get going if we want to get this done any time soon." Tails said and the others nodded in agreement.  
  
"I'll see you lot later then." Eggman got into the car and drove away, leaving the others to find the shops.  
  
Half an hour later and they had managed to find the Chequers Centre after getting lost several times and several tempers getting frayed.  
  
"At last, we're here! Remind me that I now actually hate shopping!" Sonic said angrily and Rouge rolled her eyes.  
  
"Typical reaction of a three year old."  
  
"What are you trying to say?" Sonic demanded.  
  
"Tails is being calmer than you at the moment and he's nearly six years younger than you!"  
  
"Even I must admit Sonic, there's no need to act like that." Shadow commented.  
  
"Great, now everyone's going to have a go at me!" Sonic said bitterly.  
  
"Let's just get going." Tails said quietly.  
  
"Yeah, I agree. I just want to get this over and done with." Knuckles added and they set off for the shops.  
  
Not much happened while they bought their school stuff (plus I don't want to bore you with the details of trying to choose between two different pencil cases). They finished getting their stuff when Rouge's eyes happened to sight a shoe shop. She headed for it, having managed to persuade herself at least that she should have a look inside. The others followed her, too tired to argue and they slumped down into the chairs while Rouge looked around.  
  
Eventually choosing on a couple, she brought them over and proceeded to try them on. She had one pair on and looked up at the others. Sonic and Shadow had actually fallen asleep against each other and Tails and Knuckles were ready to fall off their chairs. Frowning, she suddenly had an idea.  
  
"Hey you two, want to make things more interesting?" She asked.  
  
"Depends what it is." Tails replied, looking suspiciously as her.  
  
"Notice them two are asleep."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Why don't we play a little trick on them?" She indicated the shoes in her hands and Knuckles smiled evilly.  
  
"I like the sound of this." Even Tails had to grin as carefully, Knuckles and Rouge took their shoes off before replacing them with high-heeled boots.  
  
"Surely won't they notice?" Tails asked and Rouge shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"Maybe. I don't really care if they do though."  
  
"Yeah, they look like a right sight!" Knuckles added, trying to suppress a snigger but failing miserably.  
  
It wasn't long before Rouge had decided on a pair of boots and paid for them. Once she had done that, Tails and Knuckles woke Shadow and Sonic up.  
  
"Come on you two, Rouge is finished." Knuckles said and Sonic opened his eyes, as did Shadow.  
  
"She has? At last." He went to stand up and immediately fell over. "What's going on here?" He demanded as he looked down at his legs and then Tails and Knuckles, who held their shoes. Shadow had also suffered the same fate and he looked even madder than Sonic was.  
  
"Give them back right now!" He shouted and Knuckles and Tails took a couple of steps backwards.  
  
"You'll have to catch us first." Knuckles said.  
  
"Why you-" Sonic stood up suddenly but fell down again.  
  
"Sonic, you idiot! Take them off!" Shadow hissed, who was already dealing with his boots, treating them like they were poisoned. Seeing what they were doing, Knuckles and Tails quickly dropped the shoes and ran out of the shop. Rouge followed them in amusement as Sonic and Shadow ran out of the shop too.  
  
She eventually found them running along the road outside the shopping centre, people being scattered to the left and right to get out of the way. They didn't slow down though, continuing to chase Knuckles and Tails into the suburbs of the town. By this point, Rouge was getting annoyed with them, very annoyed.  
  
"You lot, stop right now!" She yelled and instantly, they stopped. Well Sonic and Shadow skidded into Knuckles and Tails at least. While they sorted themselves out, she had enough time to catch up with them. Everyone looked round and Tails was the first one to admit what they all knew.  
  
"I think we're lost." Houses surrounded them and it was starting to get dark. Tails flew up into the air and had a look around. Rouge followed him and soon both of them were trying to work out where the block of apartments was.  
  
"What about that building over there?" Rouge asked, pointing to a small block of flats near the park.  
  
"Yes, I think that might be it. We're not that far away luckily." Tails commented.  
  
"So we have to go up this road and then to the right." Rouge noted before the two of them landed on the ground.  
  
"Find it?" Shadow asked.  
  
"Yep, this way." Everyone followed Rouge and soon they were on the main road, which went towards the park.  
  
"Anyone know what the name of the road is?" Sonic asked as they stood at the edge of the park.  
  
"Yeah, it's Nelson Road." Knuckles looked around and saw a street sign. "Here it is!"  
  
Now they knew they were on the right road, everyone recognised this part of the area. They walked down the road quickly and finally reached Garden Views. They knocked on the door and Eggman opened it, letting them in.  
  
"I wondered if you were coming back anytime soon." He commented. Suddenly, Knuckles' powerful sense of smell was nearly knocked out from the paint fumes.  
  
"It smells awful in here!" He exclaimed, feeling dizzy.  
  
"Ah, sorry about that. That would be the second coat of paint drying. It's taken a bit longer than I thought it would so you won't be able to sleep in your room tonight." Eggman explained.  
  
"What?" Knuckles demanded.  
  
"You can sleep in there if you want but I assumed you didn't like the smell."  
  
"Not like is an understatement." He muttered.  
  
"Don't worry, you're not the only one. I did three rooms today and I'll get the others done tomorrow. Unfortunately, that means that you, me and Rouge will have to sleep in the living room tonight."  
  
"On what?" Rouge demanded.  
  
"I'll sleep in one of the armchairs and you two can sleep on the sofa." Eggman smiled slightly. "I assumed you wouldn't mind." He added.  
  
"Will they be finished by tomorrow?" She asked and Eggman nodded his head. "That's all right then."  
  
Now that that had been sorted out, the group sat down to eat dinner. They all decided to go to bed afterwards, as they felt very tired from the day's activities. Eggman left the balcony door open so the place could be aired before moving an armchair to a corner. He sank down into it, pulling the duvet over him. Rouge lay down on one end of the sofa, duvet covering her. Knuckles didn't know what to do so he perched on the other end, closing his eyes in relief. Hearing creaking from the other end though, he opened his eyes and watched in silence as Rouge moved up to lie in front of him. He simply put his arms around her waist before drifting off into sleep.  
  
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S. Chensu: See, I told you it was boring!  
  
Luff: In fact, so much so that we've managed to send all the Eternal Darkness characters to sleep *Snores are heard in background*  
  
S. Chensu: Aw, they look so sweet!  
  
Luff: What, even Pious?  
  
S. Chensu: Hmm, maybe not. In case you're wondering, he's a burnt body that looks quite skeleton like wearing Roman armour. You should probably look for a picture of him for it to make more sense.  
  
Luff: But if you can't be bothered, you can take our word that he's very ugly and could never be "sweet".  
  
S. Chensu: Anyway readers, you'll be pleased to know that the next episode is called "The boring part 2". So it will be quite similar to this in a way.  
  
Luff: But please read it! Now go and review before we put the next episode up! That means the boring parts will be over sooner! I promise! 


	10. The boring part 2

S. Chensu: Today, we're not having any random characters because to be honest, I can't be arsed to write about them.  
  
Sonic: At last, we haven't been mentioned for ages!  
  
Luff: Some people have egos that are far too large for their brain size.  
  
Sonic: What are you trying to say?  
  
Shadow: She's trying to say that you're stupid. And I agree with her.  
  
Sonic: I'm not stupid!  
  
Shadow: Then how come you still don't know about Knuckles and Rouge yet?  
  
Sonic: Because the nasty authoresses did it to me!  
  
Luff: Oh so we're nasty are we? For saying that you can read the disclaimer.  
  
Sonic: Fine then. S. Chensu and Luff don't own us, the Sonic characters. In fact all they own is the story and Hissy the Goose.  
  
S. Chensu: You'll find out about him later. He's a once-in-a-story character.  
  
Shadow: Yes, thank goodness for that, after what he did to us I don't think I can ever handle bread again.  
  
S. Chensu: But we'll let you find out about him so it's on with the episode!  
  
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Episode ten: The boring part 2  
  
Eggman woke up early in the morning with an aching back and sore arse. He stood up and stretched before closing the balcony window a fraction, as it had begun to get cold. He turned back and saw Rouge and Knuckles lying together on the sofa. Smiling slightly, he went to the kitchen to get some breakfast. As he sat at the table chewing on his toast, he thought about the recent events and how things were different only a couple of months ago.  
  
~Sonic and me were deadly enemies then.~ Eggman thought. ~What happened Ivo? You would have killed all three of them by now. But I can't, not now. I think things changed a lot when we had to work together, although I told myself then it was just so I didn't die. It's hard to forget something like that.~ He looked back at Knuckles and Rouge on the sofa. ~And I don't have my full band of accomplices anymore. She would never betray him, that's for sure. Nope, things are definitely different now.~ He stood up and put the plate in the sink. Once that was done, he decided to have a look at the bedrooms.  
  
He was pleased to see that the second coat had now dried in all three rooms. Taking some clothes from his cupboard, he went to go and have a shower.  
  
~I'd better get the others up soon if I want to do the other rooms.~  
  
Meanwhile, Rouge had now woken up and she moved her head round slightly so she could look at Knuckles. His mouth was slightly open and.  
  
"Is that drool I see?" She exclaimed in disgust and after checking herself to make sure she didn't have any on her, she took a corner of the duvet and wiped his chin. Once that was done, she shut his mouth and his eyes flickered open. He frowned at her in puzzlement.  
  
"What did you do that for?" He asked.  
  
"You were drooling." She replied, barely able to stop herself from laughing as he blushed in embarrassment.  
  
"Um.sorry about that." He mumbled and she shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"It doesn't matter." She whispered before kissing him on the cheek.  
  
"Morning all." Tails said loudly, as Shadow cleared his throat. Knuckles and Rouge stared at them, wondering how long they had been standing there. Tails elbowed Shadow, sniggering. "You were drooling." He imitated, starting to laugh uncontrollably.  
  
"Ew, drool!" Shadow exclaimed, in a mock girly voice. He joined in laughing with Tails as they walked towards the kitchen. Rouge rolled her eyes and got up, leaving a crimson coloured Knuckles sitting on the sofa. He got up a few moments later after some encouragement from Rouge (accompanied by retching noises from Shadow and Tails) to get breakfast as well.  
  
"You don't have to do that you know." Rouge said coldly as they sat at the table eating their food.  
  
"Give us a reason why we shouldn't." Tails said instead.  
  
"Because I can kick both your asses and you wouldn't be able to do a thing." She said, a smirk on her face.  
  
"Why not?" Shadow asked.  
  
"Because I'm a girl. You're not allowed to retaliate against me." She explained, crossing her arms.  
  
"Typical! Exploit our weakness!" Tails exclaimed. "Nevermind, as long as you don't kick our asses anytime soon, we'll continue in our childish behaviour."  
  
"Childish behaviour? I don't want to take part in that." Shadow commented distastefully.  
  
"If only Sonic had enough brain cells to understand what's going on. It's very annoying to do your work when your accomplice isn't there to help." Tails said, sighing.  
  
"Don't worry, it can't be much longer.can it?" Rouge looked at Knuckles who shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Depends if he's in his own little world or not. If so, he won't realise people are together until the wedding bells are ringing."  
  
"And how soon will that be you two then?" Tails asked seriously.  
  
"No comment." Rouge snapped, trying to stop them from embarrassing Knuckles anymore. "You really don't know when to give up, do you?" She stood up suddenly and stormed off, slamming the bathroom door behind her.  
  
"Rouge, wait!" Knuckles shouted and he followed her into the bathroom. There was silence for a few moments.  
  
"I think you've done it there." Shadow said quietly.  
  
"It's not my fault she's being all sensitive. Probably that time of the month for her." Tails replied gloomily.  
  
Just then Eggman came out of the other bathroom and frowned in puzzlement, looking from the other bathroom to Shadow and Tails sitting at the table.  
  
"What did you do?" He asked as he took their plates and put them in the sink.  
  
"We didn't do anything! She's just in a funny mood." Tails scoffed.  
  
"Basically, Tails said a couple of things about Rouge and Knuckles and she was not impressed." Shadow explained.  
  
"I guessed as much from the slamming door and the bitter attitude of Tails." Eggman commented. "Oh well, boys will be boys."  
  
"I don't think Rouge is going to take that attitude." Shadow muttered as Sonic finally entered the room.  
  
"Morning everyone." He said cheerfully but stopped when he saw everyone's faces. "What happened?"  
  
"You obviously didn't hear Miss Moody slamming the door then." Tails said.  
  
"Yes, I did actually, it woke me up. I was wondering who would do that."  
  
"Now you know. When she comes out-"  
  
"If she does." Tails muttered darkly.  
  
"/When/ she comes out," Eggman repeated. "I want you all to just leave her in peace. She just needs some space and time to calm down." Tails shrugged his shoulders and he stood up to go and have a shower.  
  
The atmosphere improved and Sonic decided to talk to Eggman while he ate his breakfast.  
  
"So then, when are you going to do the other rooms?"  
  
"Today, once everyone is ready. Hopefully because I will have started them earlier, you won't have to sleep on the sofas." Eggman explained.  
  
"That's good. My room seems really empty with white walls." He commented before turning to Shadow. "So then, what shall we do today?"  
  
"Why don't we got to the park? It's not too far away." Shadow suggested.  
  
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. We just have to wait for the others to finish in the bathrooms."  
  
"Luckily everyone is now out of their bedrooms so I can start painting." Eggman said and he stood up, walking towards Tails' room.  
  
Sonic and Shadow sat in silence for several minutes until Rouge and Knuckles came out of the bathroom, looking cleaner than before. They looked briefly at their rooms before sitting down at the table, Rouge staring in surprise at the silence in the room.  
  
"Hello, anyone there?" She asked, waving her hands in front of their faces.  
  
"Eh? Sorry, just thinking." Shadow said while Sonic remained gormless.  
  
"So then, what shall we do today?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"We could go shopping." Rouge suggested lightly and this seemed to wake Sonic up.  
  
"No, not shopping!" He shouted and he ran to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.  
  
"Maybe not." Rouge said quietly.  
  
"I had the idea that we could go to the park today." Shadow said.  
  
"Good weather today too. Yeah, that sounds nice." Rouge said, smiling slightly at Knuckles.  
  
"I agree. We need something relaxing after the last few days." Knuckles said. "Where's Tails?"  
  
"In the bathroom. He's been there for a long time, I wonder what's happened to him?" Shadow pondered. Just then, Tails entered the room, scowling when he saw Rouge.  
  
"Ah, there he is." Knuckles said as Tails sat down at the table. "If we want to do anything, you should probably get washed now Shadow." He didn't say anything but merely got up and sauntered off to the bathroom.  
  
The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes until Rouge sighed and looked at Tails.  
  
"Tails, I want to apologise for the way I acted earlier. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, I'm sorry." She said quietly. Tails stared back at her and smiled.  
  
"That's ok, maybe I shouldn't have gone that far." He paused. "But do you think you will ever get married?" Knuckles blushed slightly and Rouge laughed.  
  
"I think it's early days yet. It depends how long we stay together. After all, we might break up." She didn't say anything else and Tails shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose so. Do you know what we're doing today?"  
  
"Shadow suggested us going to the park, which I like the sound of." Rouge said. When he heard this, Tails stood up and started looking through the cupboards.  
  
"What are you doing?" Knuckles asked, a small smile on his face.  
  
"If we're going to the park then we need to take some bread for the ducks! You can't go to the park without feeding the ducks after all." Tails said, as though it was obvious.  
  
"Have you looked in the bread bin yet?" Rouge asked. Tails frowned at her and tried to subtly move towards it but failed. He found half a loaf of bread and took the whole lot, putting it on the table in front of him.  
  
"Are we trying to fatten them enough so we can eat them?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"Oh ha ha ha! From what I saw, it looked like a big pond so there might be lots of ducks." He said as an explanation. "Anyway, I wouldn't eat a duck." He said, sniffing at Rouge and Knuckles.  
  
"They're probably too tough anyway." Knuckles added cheerfully.  
  
"What's too tough?" Sonic asked as he entered the room, hearing the end of the conversation.  
  
"Never mind, I can't be bothered to explain it." Knuckles replied.  
  
"So then, when are we going?" He asked as he sat down next to Tails.  
  
"When Shadow's ready. Everyone else is ready at least."  
  
"God, why does everyone take so long? This is really boring!" Sonic stood up and started jogging on the spot.  
  
"Sonic, it's a Sunday. Just chill and slow down a bit." Tails said.  
  
"I know but I feel all twitchy!" Suddenly he burst into song. "Why are we waiting?" He shouted loudly, just as Shadow left the bathroom.  
  
"I don't know, why are we waiting?" Shadow asked.  
  
"We're waiting for you!" Sonic shouted, jumping up and down in annoyance.  
  
"Anyone want to knock him out?" Rouge asked and nobody said anything. "I'll do it if no one else will."  
  
"Come on Sonic, we can go now." Tails said kindly and they walked towards the door. As they did so, Eggman came out of Tails' room covered in paint.  
  
"See you lot later then." They said goodbye to him before leaving the house.  
  
They walked along the road towards the park feeling better than they had before now that Sonic has calmed down and Rouge and Tails had made up. Tails was swinging the bread bag in his hand and by accident, he let go. It flew through the air and landed ten foot in front of them.  
  
"Tails, that bread is completely destroyed now! What were you thinking?" Shadow tutted.  
  
"I was thinking that it if it rains, I'm going to be very annoyed." Tails said calmly.  
  
"You know I don't mean that." He shouted.  
  
"Yes but you did ask what I was thinking. Anyway, it isn't alive so it doesn't matter if I destroy it! It just makes it easier for us to give to the ducks." Tails explained.  
  
"Makes sense Shadow." Sonic added. While the conversation had been going on, no one had gone to pick up the bread. Rouge did so and she and Knuckles walked ahead of the others.  
  
The park was fairly flat with trees lining the edge of it. The pond sat in the middle, surrounded by benches and it contained a number of various birds, mostly ducks. Couples, families, the old, and the young.everyone seemed to be there. Rouge looked at Knuckles and smiling, she passed the bread to Tails.  
  
"Here. Me and Knuckles are just going for a walk so we'll see you by the pond ok?" Without waiting to hear their reply, she linked arms with Knuckles and strolled down the path. They watched after them in silence for a moment before Sonic turned to Tails.  
  
"Am I missing something?"  
  
"No Sonic, nothing at all."  
  
************************  
  
Most of the day passed without many eventful happenings (as expected on a Sunday and in the boring part of a story) but one event would surpass one hundred small things. It was in the afternoon and by now; Sonic, Shadow and Tails had decided to go for a walk around the park. Rouge and Knuckles were sitting on a sloping bank near the pond and were currently wondering where the others were.  
  
"I wonder where the others are?" Rouge commented (Note from S. Chensu: See, I told you so).  
  
"Probably looking for us. I don't really care where they are though." Knuckles replied.  
  
"Oh, what's changed your attitude?" She asked, smiling to herself.  
  
"If they do come here any time soon, they'd probably just do something to embarrass themselves." He kissed her on the cheek. "Or us."  
  
"Yeah, they probably would." They sat in silence and watched the ducks on the pond bobbing up and down on the water.  
  
"Today's been really nice." Knuckles said quietly. Rouge nodded her head and leant against Knuckles.  
  
"Yes, especially with you." She whispered (Note from Luff: Yuck, disgusting!). Suddenly, they heard a thumping noise and they sat up, looking at the top of the hill.  
  
Sonic was standing at the top along with Shadow and Tails and they were staring down at them.  
  
"There you are! We wondered where you'd got to." Sonic shouted.  
  
"Brilliant timing." Rouge muttered and Knuckles smiled ruefully.  
  
"I'm sure they didn't mean it." He commented, continuing to smile at her practically disgusted face. Sonic had started to walk towards them and of course began to go faster and faster (Well at least according to the Law of Gravity he would anyway). Tails and Shadow followed him and even Tails' IQ of 150 (or whatever it is) didn't bother to remind him of what was going to happen next.  
  
Soon they were running at full throttle and couldn't stop themselves. Knuckles used his quick reflexes to pull himself and Rouge out of the way before Sonic, Shadow and Tails hurtled past them. They got to the end of the hill and did what could only be expected: they fell straight into the pond. Sonic was not happy with this, especially when he remembered that he couldn't swim. He started thrashing about, trying desperately to get to the surface. Panic was taking over though and his movements were getting weaker. His head bobbed to the top and he saw Shadow and Tails standing there, staring at him.  
  
"Don't just stand there, help me!" Sonic coughed before he went under. As he did so, he reflected upon his words. ~Stand there? How can they stand in water? Unless.~ He put his feet carefully down and was surprised when they hit hard ground. He stood up properly and found that the water only came up to his chest.  
  
Very embarrassed now as well as being very annoyed at Shadow and Tails for not telling him this, he frowned at them.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me it only went this high?" He yelled at them, his arms crossed.  
  
"Because we thought it was obvious they wouldn't make a pond deep enough to drown in, especially as there are children coming here too." Shadow said. Sonic heard some laughter and looked up, seeing Rouge and Knuckles leaning against each other, tears in their eyes.  
  
"Oh ha ha ha, very funny! Why did you move? You might have stopped us from falling in here!"  
  
"Because we knew that we would fall in too, whatever you want to say about it." Knuckles replied.  
  
"And plus it was funny to watch you thrashing about in a pond." Rouge added. "But you did scare all the ducks off." She added in mock seriousness.  
  
"The ducks! That reminds me, we haven't fed them yet!" Tails shouted and he climbed out of the pond.  
  
"Why bother doing that when you could just walk through the pond?" Rouge asked.  
  
"No thank you." Tails replied as he shook his tails dry, deliberately spraying Knuckles and Rouge at the same time.  
  
"Hey, stop it!" Knuckles moved back away from him and soon Tails stopped.  
  
"Oh sorry, did I get you wet?" He asked sarcastically. By now, Shadow and Sonic had also got out of the pond. Knuckles, Rouge and Tails started sniggering at Shadow and Sonic when they saw the pondweed on their heads.  
  
"Hey love the new hair extensions, where did you get them?" Rouge asked. They looked up and saw the green plants hanging on their heads. Sonic yanked his off and threw it at Rouge, missing her by several feet. She giggled and turned back to the path, the others following her.  
  
They soon got to the part where the birds were and Tails and Sonic stood by the edge, throwing bits of bread in. A goose came waddling along and Tails held some bread out to it. It's beak snapped around his hand before it hissed at him.  
  
"Ow!" Tails yelled and he pulled his hand away from it. "Stupid bird!" He waved his hand in the air and the goose took a step forward, trying to snap at him again.  
  
"I don't think it liked you saying that." Shadow commented and Tails threw him a dirty look. Tails started to back away from the goose as it continued to follow him. This soon turned into a jog and then a run as Tails was forced to go faster.  
  
"Help me, I'm being chased by a killer goose!" It flapped his wings at him and Tails hurtled down the path. The rest looked at each other before running after him.  
  
They soon caught up with Tails and the goose and they tried to scare it away, without success.  
  
"That's weird, normally one look at the two of you is enough to scare anything off." Rouge commented to Shadow and Sonic.  
  
"It's all very well saying that but we still haven't managed to get rid of it." Shadow replied.  
  
"Why don't we run out of the park? Surely the goose won't follow us out of it." Sonic suggested.  
  
"I think that's the most intelligent thing you've said for some time Sonic." Shadow muttered. So after shouting at Tails, they headed towards the entrance.  
  
They reached the gates and honking loudly, the goose flew into the air. The group stopped and watched it as they went higher in the sky. Tails cheered and stuck his tongue out at the goose before they began to walk home. They were nearing the block of apartments when they heard a familiar honking noise. They looked up and saw the same goose flying above them. It flew in lower before aiming its tail at them and.  
  
"Yuck!" Rouge screamed as the bird's waste liquids were deposited on her head. "Ew!" She wailed before running along the road as fast as she could. They looked up at the bird who hissed at them before flying back towards the park. It sounded a lot like laughing though. The four of them walked quickly back to the apartment, Sonic and Tails trying not to laugh.  
  
"Her fur is white so surely it won't make a difference will it?" Shadow asked and this make Tails and Sonic laugh even more. A look from Knuckles instantly made them cough though and they walked back in silence.  
  
They got back to the apartment and found, as expected that one of the bathroom doors was locked. The next thing they found was that the smell of paint was even worse than yesterday and Tails had already started giggling from the fumes. They found Eggman sitting outside on the balcony and he stood up when he saw them.  
  
"Have a nice time in the park?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah, if falling into a pond and then being chased by a killer goose counts as a nice time." Tails said bitterly.  
  
"Yes, I saw Rouge rushing in here saying something about wanting to kill all birds. I assume it did something she didn't like." Eggman said.  
  
"After it chased us through the park, we thought we were safe because it flew away. But then it came back and it pooped on her head." Sonic explained.  
  
"Ah, I don't think anyone would be happy about that." Eggman paused. "Do you think she will be ok?"  
  
"She just needs to calm down a bit, that's all. She'll be out in a hour or so." Knuckles said, shrugging his shoulders.  
  
"One hour? She's a girl, it's going to take at least four hours before she'll leave that bathroom." Tails said loudly.  
  
"Probably but a bird did crap on her hair, and you know what girls are like about hair." Eggman said. "I'd better leave getting dinner started for a while then I suppose."  
  
************************  
  
A few hours later and they had had dinner and were now sitting around the coffee table in the living room, talking about tomorrow.  
  
"I hope we don't have loads of work to do." Sonic said.  
  
"We're going to a high school, of course we've got to do work!" Rouge exclaimed.  
  
"But I don't want to!"  
  
"That's because you're lazy." Knuckles pointed out. "Anyway, it's only a year and then we can leave."  
  
"Not for me though! I'm still in primary school." Tails said, sighing softly.  
  
"That just means your work will be easier!" Sonic said.  
  
"It /means/ I'll be more bored." Tails retorted. "Anyway, I'm going to bed." He stood up and left the room.  
  
The others followed his example and slowly made their way to their rooms, saying goodnight to each other. Soon everyone had gone and the room was silent. Tails was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.  
  
~I really don't want to go, it'll be just like all the other times.~ He thought and images of children pushing him around and calling him names flashed through his mind. He shivered slightly at the memories before getting into bed, hoping that he would get some sleep.  
  
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Luff: The end of another episode! *Sigh*  
  
Sonic: What's up?  
  
Luff: BOOOOOOOOOREDOOOOOOOM. Bored, bored, bored-diddy bored.  
  
S. Chensu: Lovely, I'm sure.  
  
Shadow: Yeah. He he he, poor Rouge. She got pooed on by the birdy!  
  
Luff: Everyone's gone mad! And Chen, stop blabbering on about your drink! I couldn't care less if it had bits of poo floating in it!  
  
S. Chensu: You would if I forced you to drink it!  
  
Luff: Oh, whatever. Anyways, we're gonna finish here 'cos I'm tired and it's almost quarter to one in the morning. Don't ask. -_-zz  
  
S. Chensu: *Continues to drink Reef* Review everyone! *Falls over in drunken stupor* @_@ 


	11. Monday blues

S. Chensu: Hello and welcome to episode eleven, the start of school. That's why it's called Monday Blues, because Mondays always make me feel depressed coz of crappy school and AS Levels (Whose stupid idea was that eh? My exams are in 4 months time and so far I don't think I've learnt anything!). GCSEs were so much simpler.  
  
Luff: Stop moaning! She's been doing this all day and it's really starting to annoy me now! But I have to agree with you; so far this year (10) is probably the one where I have had the least amount of homework.  
  
S. Chensu: It's all right for you; you're still doing your GCSEs! I know what they're like and it's a lot simpler than what I'm doing! *Coughs suddenly when she notices readers looking at her in a strange way* Anyway, please excuse the ranting. Remember that just because its school doesn't mean it's going to be simple.  
  
Luff: You also need to know that because our computer f**ks everything up, the bit where they're writing notes to each other is meant to be in a different font so we'll put in brackets at the end of each bit who's writing it.  
  
S. Chensu: This is quite long so we'll let you get on with it. Just remember:  
  
Disclaimer: We do not own anything in this story, apart from the story itself and the characters Lauren, Hannah, Peter, Dan, Marie, Bruce, Miss Petrie, Mrs Skillet, Miss Dink, Mr Kenly, Gillian, Sean, Sammie and Emily. And we definitely don't own the songs 'Not of this Earth' (Robbie Williams), which is Knuckles' theme song and 'Angels' (also Robbie Williams), which is Tails' theme song. Oh and the 'Cheeky Song' by the Cheeky Girls.  
  
Really important note: This has more kissing as well as other bad stuff. I mean like the fact a boy tries to kiss Rouge.  
  
Luff: Now you can definitely get on with it.  
  
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Episode eleven: Monday blues  
  
Shadow woke up in the morning to the sounds of Eggman shouting at Sonic.  
  
"Come on Sonic, you have to get up!"  
  
"I don't want to! It's too early for me!" Sonic yelled. Groaning, Shadow got out of bed to see what was happening. He saw Eggman standing by Sonic's door and leaning inwards. His face had gone red from shouting and peeking in, he saw Sonic in bed with his head under his pillow. The others weren't anywhere to be seen and he went to find them.  
  
He found Tails in his room gazing at himself in the mirror, looking very depressed.  
  
"Morning Tails, ready for school I see. Unlike Sonic, who seems to be content with just lying in bed." Shadow commented.  
  
"Eggman went to wake him up this morning and he's refusing to go to school. I'm sure he'll get out eventually though." Tails said, smiling for the first time.  
  
"ARRRGH! All right, all right I'm out of bed!" They heard Sonic yell.  
  
"It seems he is now out of bed. I wonder what Eggman did?" Tails asked.  
  
"Let's go outside and find out." Shadow said and they walked out of the room. Sonic had locked himself in one of the bathrooms and Knuckles and Rouge who were sat at the kitchen table, were laughing.  
  
"What happened? We heard a scream and then lots of yelling." Shadow said.  
  
"Then a bit of shouting too." Tails added.  
  
"Eggman got some ice cubes out from the freezer and placed them in a bowl. He then tipped them all over Sonic!" Rouge giggled.  
  
Just then, Sonic appeared, now washed and half changed, looking very irritated.  
  
"Good morning Sonic." Knuckles said amiably.  
  
"Shut up! I'm not in a good mood!" He snapped.  
  
"And why could that be? I didn't hear anything happen." Shadow said.  
  
"Oh ha ha ha, very funny! Your wit continues to astound and amaze me!" He said scornfully (Note from S. Chensu: I always say this when I'm annoyed!).  
  
"Come on you, get changed. Just remember I've still got the ice cubes to use if necessary." Eggman said, appearing from Sonic's room. The mention of ice cubes made Sonic shiver and he went to his room to find his shirt, tie and blazer.  
  
"Thank you for the entertainment Eggman. This is certainly going to make the day a bit more bearable. Come on Knuckles, we'll see you lot in a minute." Rouge said and they both left the table after putting their bowls away.  
  
When they had gone, Sonic returned now fully dressed and in a better mood. He sat down and Tails passed him a bowl of cereal.  
  
"Thanks Tails. Good morning everyone, sorry about my behaviour earlier, I'm always bad on a Monday." Sonic said.  
  
"No problem Sonic." Tails said.  
  
"Hang on, where have Knuckles and Rouge gone? They're acting even stranger than they were before." Sonic said.  
  
"I suppose now's a good a time as any to tell you." Eggman started. Tails stared at him but Eggman just shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Yeah, you may as well." Tails said.  
  
"Knuckles and Rouge.how do you say it? They're close." Eggman started.  
  
"Very close." Tails added.  
  
"What, you mean like best friends?" Sonic said and Shadow put his face in his hands.  
  
"No, closer than best friends." Tails said desperately but just then, Knuckles and Rouge entered the room, looking a bit flushed.  
  
"Well, I suppose you'd better get going now. Everyone's got their stuff packed?" Eggman said. They nodded their heads and got their bags. Once everyone had their shoes on, Sonic opened the door and stepped outside.  
  
"Bye everyone, see you later." Shadow said and they walked down the stairs. Once they were out, they set out along the road to school.  
  
Knuckles and Rouge who were behind Sonic and Tails were holding hands and talking.  
  
"Knuckles, you wouldn't mind if we kept our relationship out of school do you? It's less hassle then." Rouge asked.  
  
"I don't mind, whatever you want. It shall be our little secret." He whispered. She smiled and saw out of the corner of her eye, Sonic staring at them. Not wanting to alarm Knuckles, she didn't say anything though and kissed him on the cheek instead.  
  
"Thanks Knuckles. I wonder what school will be like?"  
  
************************  
  
~Could that be what Tails meant? About them being closer than best friends?~ Sonic suddenly realised after all of this time the truth about Knuckles and Rouge. ~I don't believe it; they're going out with each other! Ew, that's disgusting! I have to talk to Knuckles about this.~  
  
"Sonic, are you ok? You've come over a bit distant." Tails asked. Sonic turned to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.  
  
"I think I've just understood what you meant about Knuckles and Rouge."  
  
"At last! I wondered how long it would take!" Tails exclaimed.  
  
"What do you mean?" Sonic frowned.  
  
"Well, you know how you went on about nothing happening in Italy? They got together there, so something did happen." Tails said.  
  
"Ew, going out with a girl? What on Earth does he want to do that for?" Sonic pulled a face and Tails laughed.  
  
"Because he loves her. Just accept the fact that they're together and may be for a long time." Tails suggested.  
  
"I'm happy for them but I need to talk to Knuckles. I still can't believe that he, a cold hearted old crow has softened up!" He stopped and so did Tails. Rouge and Knuckles quickly let go of each other's hands and stopped in front of them.  
  
"Why are we stopping?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Knuckles, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone, please." Sonic said and Tails grabbed Rouge by her arm.  
  
"Come on Rouge, I wanted to ask you something anyway." Tails said as he led her away.  
  
Knuckles stared at Sonic in expectation but now that he was here, Sonic couldn't think of anything to say.  
  
"Did you want something Sonic?" Knuckles eventually asked.  
  
"Um.I don't know how to say this but why?" He stumbled.  
  
"Why what? Oh I see! You mean about me and Rouge!" He grinned when he saw Sonic wince. "This may sound really strange but I don't know what actually happens next." He looked up hopefully and the person at the big computer in the sky sighed. A hand reached down and in it was a copy of the script.  
  
Knuckles scanned the page for a few moments before his eyes widened.  
  
"On no, please not that, anything but that." He whimpered but the hand had already disappeared.  
  
"What is it?" A look of realisation appeared on Sonic's face. "Oh no, don't tell me you have to sing."  
  
"Yes, oh why me? It's going to be so embarrassing!" Knuckles exclaimed.  
  
"I'm not worried about that, I'm more scared about the song. Please tell me it's not a love song?" At this Knuckles smiled.  
  
"You'll be pleased to know that it.is." Knuckles continued to smile as he saw Sonic's face rise and fall in a split second.  
  
"NO, not a love song!" Sonic screamed and Knuckles took this opportunity to start singing while no one was paying attention to him.  
  
"Not of this Earth  
  
You've changed places with the Sun  
  
I know that you're the one  
  
I love what we've become  
  
Not of this Earth  
  
I wear you like a shroud  
  
I know I'll make you proud  
  
You done your crying now  
  
She's not of this Earth  
  
And I no longer need to search  
  
If I ever leave this world  
  
You will have a song to sing  
  
So you know what you're worth  
  
Not of this Earth  
  
She came walking down my lane  
  
I've learned to laugh again  
  
Like a moth to a flame  
  
Not of this Earth  
  
Not surprised we're unashamed  
  
She's gonna have to change her name  
  
Then we'll know that she's the same  
  
She's not of this Earth  
  
And I believe we've seen the worst  
  
If I ever leave this world  
  
You will have a song to sing  
  
So you know what you're worth  
  
(Light of this Earth)  
  
Better get used to this smile  
  
(Light of this Earth)  
  
Gonna be around for awhile  
  
(Light of this Earth)  
  
Spent so much time being cursed  
  
(Light of this Earth)  
  
Not of this Earth (Oh not of)  
  
You've changed places with the Sun  
  
I know that you're the one (I know that you're)  
  
I love what we've become  
  
Not of this Earth  
  
I wear you like a shroud  
  
I know I'll make you proud (I know I'll make you proud)  
  
You done your crying now  
  
Light of this Earth." He finished the song and looked embarrassed. Rouge, who had heard the whole thing ran up to him and hugged him.  
  
"Knuckles that was so good!" She exclaimed which made him go even redder.  
  
"It doesn't look like Sonic appreciated it as much though." Tails noted and they saw Sonic running around, with his fingers in his ears. "SONIC, ITS FINISHED NOW! YOU CAN TAKE YOUR FINGERS OUT OF YOUR EARS!" Tails yelled and Sonic took them out cautiously.  
  
"At last, the hell on Earth has ended!" He sighed relieved. "I'm happy for both of you, honestly I am but the idea of love sickens me!" He retched to show them.  
  
"Thank you for your opinion Sonic but I think we'd better get to school now before we're late." Rouge said.  
  
"Oh my God! We've got ten minutes to get there, we'd better get going now!" Tails said, looking at his watch.  
  
They started to run down the road and skidded around the corner. They continued to sprint until they got to Poplar Park where the schools were. Inverio didn't start until 8:50 so Tails still had 15 minutes but Maples school started at 8:30 and the three of them were already five minutes late. They waved goodbye to Tails and quickly entered the school.  
  
They were met in the reception by a stern looking lady who stared at them for a few moments.  
  
"I take it you are Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge?" They nodded slightly and she gazed at them as she continued to speak. "You're five minutes late but I suppose it's your first day so that doesn't matter. And you do miss the first two lessons. But that doesn't mean you can be late again ok?" They nodded their heads again and she smiled for the first time. "Welcome to Maples High School. I'm Mrs Skillet, the head teacher here. If you follow me, I'll take you to your form room." She turned away and they followed her down the corridor to a room full of teenagers sat down. "You are in 11V. Your form tutor is Miss Dink and she'll give you more information. I will be seeing you at the end of the week but until then, good luck." They thanked her and she opened the door. The woman sitting at the desk at the front looked up and saw her. Mrs Skillet showed the three of them in before turning away.  
  
Miss Dink was about twenty-five and wore quite casual clothes for a teacher made up of a pair of baggy trousers and tailored shirt. She had highlighted brown hair, which hung loosely around her shoulders. She smiled at them and they instantly felt less nervous. They stood at the front of the classroom and gazed out upon the rest of their class. There was a mixture of humans and animals but they all wore the same uniform.  
  
"Class we have three new students with us this year. Do you want to introduce yourselves?" She asked. They said their names in turn and she pointed to one table, made up of six places, two already filled by people. "You can sit there and Emily and Sammie will look after you, show you around etc." The group walked over to the table and saw the two girls for the first time.  
  
They both looked almost identical, both having brown hair and brown eyes. One had curly hair though while the other's was straight. Sonic sat down opposite them and after looking at Rouge, Knuckles sat down next to him. Rouge sat diagonally across from him and the girl with straight hair started talking.  
  
"Hi I'm Emily and this is my sister Sammie. As you may have noticed, we're twins but we do have our differences. The first thing we have to warn you about is some of the people in this class. Most important to your knowledge here at school is that there is a hierarchy and Gillian is at the top. That's her over there." She pointed to a fox that was giggling with some other girls and looking at them occasionally. Her fur was a deep chestnut colour and you could tell she was popular. Rouge stared at her and sniffed loudly.  
  
"Yep, just what I think of her too but it's usually best to just stay out of her way. The one you really have to look out for Rouge is him, Sean Bonnet. He tries to hit on any single girl who has any features about her and some that are already booked." Among the group of girls surrounding Gillian was a boy who had his hands practically down her pants. She seemed to be enjoying it though and he was basking in her glory. Knuckles went slightly pink and just then, he saw Sean staring at Rouge. He turned back to Gillian after a few seconds but that didn't stop Knuckles from noticing an evil glint in his eyes. He turned back to the conversation that the others were having, shaking his head slightly.  
  
"So what about the lessons then?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Do you really want to know about them? Let's just say you'll be bored out of your brain after the first ten minutes but the stuff's easy enough so that you don't flunk the subjects. As long as you look like you're listening, the teachers are happy." Sammie explained.  
  
"The head teacher said something to us about missing some lessons but I don't understand what she meant." Sonic said.  
  
"On the first day of term we miss the first two lessons so we have some time to catch up on what people have been doing etc. or in the case of them," Emily glanced at the group with Gillian and Sean. "A chance to reassure their dominance of the class. It also gives us some time to tell you things about this school."  
  
"Although you wonder why people want to know things about this dump." Sammie muttered.  
  
"Class can I have your attention please?" Miss Dink announced and everyone stopped talking. "I'm just going to give you your timetables and afterwards you can go to your lockers." She held some papers in her hand and handed them out. The group got theirs and looked at them.  
  
"Oh no look what we have today! Geography, Maths and Japanese! I don't think the day can get much worse than this!" Sammie wailed and she leaned over to Rouge's timetable. "How come you have a gap where I've got Japanese?" She looked closer and gasped. "A free study period! Emily, why can't we have one? I've always wanted one of them."  
  
"There must obviously be a reason. Do you know why?" Emily asked.  
  
"I'm fluent in Japanese so I suppose they didn't see the point in me having lessons." Rouge replied in perfect Japanese.  
  
"How do you do that? I have trouble saying hello in Japanese, let alone anything else!" Sammie said.  
  
"It's true you know. I've never known anyone worse than her at trying to learn something." Emily added.  
  
"We've spent a lot of time in Japan so we've learnt the lingo. Does this mean we have one less subject?" Sonic asked hopefully.  
  
"It must do. Lucky old you is all I can say. Can we not talk about lessons anymore please?" Sammie said, shivering at the mention of the word.  
  
"So then, what sort of music do you like?" Emily said quickly, looking at Sammie worriedly.  
  
"All sorts really as long as it's not teeny beeny bobbers music." Rouge commented.  
  
"How about that song by Liberty X? You know, just a little." Emily suggested.  
  
"I can't remember how that one goes." Knuckles said.  
  
"Yes you do. It's that one I sung once and you fell over afterwards?" Rouge said and Knuckles' eyes widened in realisation.  
  
"Oh yeah, how could I forget?"  
  
"He fell over from hearing that song?" Sammie asked.  
  
"Yes, but we never did find out why. We just assumed it was because I have a terrible voice." Rouge laughed.  
  
"I know why! It's because-" Sonic stopped though when Knuckles kicked him under the table. "It's because he felt ill but we'll never be sure."  
  
"Oh, right. But have you heard that song by the Cheeky Girls? Doesn't it make you want to vomit?" Sammie said.  
  
"No we haven't. How does it go?" Sonic asked.  
  
"It's a good thing you asked that because we know exactly how it goes. And its also quite funny because the two girls are twins and so are we." Sammie grinned evilly and Emily sighed.  
  
"You've done it now. You are going to be very embarrassed after this." They started to sing the song, still sitting in their seats.  
  
"I never ever ask where do you go  
  
I never ever ask what do you do  
  
I never ever ask what's in your mind  
  
I never ever ask if you'll be mine  
  
Come and smile  
  
don't be shy  
  
Touch my bum  
  
this is life  
  
We are the cheeky girls  
  
we are the cheeky girls  
  
you are the cheeky boys  
  
you are the cheeky boys. (Note from S. Chensu: I won't write anymore of the song, as it's bad enough as it is)"  
  
Rouge was grinning like mad but Knuckles and Sonic were blushing really badly. Sammie cleared her throat in an attempt to stop herself from laughing but failed miserably.  
  
"Right class, you can now go and choose your lockers." Miss Dink announced and there was a stampede to get the top lockers. The lockers were behind Sammie and Emily and they quickly took two behind them.  
  
"Give us your PE kits and we'll put them in here." Emily said and they passed them over. They were put in three of the top lockers behind them and Sammie sighed in relief.  
  
"That was probably the most challenging part of the day. Now you have a locker, everything will be a breeze. Just make sure your locker stays tidy. If it doesn't then the stuff will fall out and hit the people below you and funnily enough, they don't like that." Sammie explained.  
  
"So what do we do now?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Nothing, we just talk. I know, we can do a question and answer session." Sammie said. "I'll start. So then, where do you live?" She asked, in mock seriousness.  
  
"Sounds like we're being interviewed. Well I say that we should ask you questions too. We live in Garden Views. Where do you-" But Rouge was interrupted by Sammie.  
  
"Garden Views? We live just along the road from there. Who do you live with? Are you all related?" Sammie asked. Knuckles and Sonic looked uneasily at each other but Rouge took control of the situation.  
  
"We live with two friends our ours called Tails and his guardian and Shadow. We're all friends with each other. We've mostly been living in Japan but we wanted to do some travelling to England so we're staying here for the year." Rouge explained.  
  
"But why stay here? This place is a dump!" Sammie exclaimed.  
  
"I suppose we were just attracted to London. But what about you?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Oh we're a lot more boring than that. We've lived here all our lives and we went to Inverio across the park before we came here, where we've remained for five years. We just live with our mum and dad, no brothers or sisters. I like drawing and shopping-" Emily said.  
  
"You're not the only one. Why do girls like shopping?" Sonic sighed.  
  
"I don't! I like martial arts and we both play video games. We also love music, all sorts." Sammie added.  
  
"You do martial arts? What sort?" Knuckles was suddenly interested in the conversation.  
  
"So the cat let go of your tongue now?" Sammie laughed. "I do karate, judo and tae kwon do. Do you do any then?"  
  
"I used to but I only practise occasionally now. So do you do any armed combat?"  
  
"No, I have a bad case of Aichmophobia."  
  
"A fear of sharp objects." Emily quickly explained. "She had an accident with a sword when she used to do kendo and she hasn't been able to face pointy objects since then." The others could only imagine what terrible thing could have happened.  
  
"When we were in Japan, I did learn some fencing. You like video games? I don't know many girls that play them." Sonic commented.  
  
"I know but it just makes things more interesting. If you come from Japan, can you speak fluent English too?"  
  
"Yep, it's compulsory until you're fourteen but we continued with it because we knew we would be coming here." Rouge explained.  
  
"So what about Maths and Geography? What are they like?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"What did I say about not mentioning lessons?" Sammie shouted.  
  
"We're in sets for Maths but most people are in the middle set." Emily looked at their tables. "That's strange, you've been put in the top set, and we're in that too. Geography is hilarious, we get taught by an old bat called Mr Kenly. It's usually easier to read the textbook than trying to understand what he's saying." Emily described.  
  
"So this day is going to be interesting." Rouge remarked.  
  
"Humph, we'll see about that. We still don't know what the slut and her pet dog think of you yet." Sammie said.  
  
"Does it matter that much then?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Oh yes. It's important so you can decide whether you want to commit suicide or dunk someone's head down the toilet and make /them/ feel suicidal by the end of the week." Sammie said bitterly.  
  
"What she's trying to say is that if they don't like you then life may not be easy-" Emily clarified.  
  
"And here they come now." Sammie muttered and true to her words, Sean and Gillian were walking over to their table.  
  
Knuckles stared stonily at them while Rouge talked to Sonic, pretending they didn't exist.  
  
"So anyway I think you'd better-" They stood by Rouge and she looked up. "Hello, and who might you two be? Did you want something?" She asked amiably.  
  
"You should know our names by now rat with wings." Gillian jeered. Knuckles was about to say something but Rouge shook her head slightly.  
  
"I'm sorry, of course I should. After all, who's more important than you?" She replied mockingly. "By the way, the name's Rouge, not rat with wings."  
  
"We don't care about your name, we just want you to know that by hanging around certain people." Gillian glanced at Sammie and Emily as she said this. "You will lose what little credit you have."  
  
"And who gave you the right to decide anyway? You are little more than a bimbo and," Rouge turned to Sean in puzzlement. "What is this thing called? I was told he's a boy although it's hard to tell, he's more earthworm to me."  
  
"You mean slimy, blind and stupid? I see what you mean Rouge." Sonic added.  
  
"You keep out of this pin cushion!" Gillian said.  
  
"Ouch, that really hurt! I don't care what you think about us!" Sonic retaliated.  
  
"I would keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you. So then, you're new around here?" Sean asked.  
  
"Do you by any chance have a rocket scientist degree? Yes we're new but I don't see what it is to you." Rouge said.  
  
"Well you be careful because we rule this class and we won't have our positions threatened." Gillian seemed to notice Knuckles for the first time. "And what about you hippy? Don't you have anything to say?" Knuckles glared at her and Sean winced slightly but it didn't affect her.  
  
"I never say anything unless it is to a person who is worth it. And to be honest, you have a long way to go before you get there." Knuckles stated. Gillian smiled slightly at him but he kept his face the same.  
  
"Strong and silent.I like that in a man. We'll leave you for the moment. Good day freaks." Gillian said to Sammie and Emily before going back to their table.  
  
Knuckles had gone red from what she said but Rouge was full of indignation.  
  
"How dare they talk to us like that! And calling you two freaks. They're are going to pay for that." Rouge muttered.  
  
"All right, no need to remind us. I must say though, nobody's ever been able to stand up to them two before. You did well for your first meeting with them.they'll find a way of getting to you though." Emily said.  
  
"No they won't! We're not going to let pathetic things like them agitate us. I think it's time to launch Operation Removal." Rouge announced.  
  
"And what's that going to involve?" Emily asked.  
  
"The removal of them two from the top of the hierarchy. We'll have to figure out a plan first of all." Rouge explained.  
  
"And you think you can do it? Trust me, people have tried to do it before and it's never worked." Sammie laughed.  
  
"Yes but no one's looked so serious about it. We'll help you in whatever way we can." Emily said.  
  
Just then, the bell went and Miss Dink stood up at the front of the class.  
  
"Break time everyone! Off you go then and have a good day!" She declared and everyone stood up, walking out of the room. Emily and Sammie stood up and Rouge cringed slightly. Although they had looked ok when sitting down, seeing all of them was a shock. They wore their pleated skirts long and had their socks pulled up. They wore unflattering shoes and they had tucked their shirts in.  
  
"The first thing you can do to help us is to show me the toilets. I think you need a make over." Rouge said.  
  
"What do you mean?" Emily asked.  
  
"If we're going to show them who's boss then you have to look the part and you don't at the moment." Was all Rouge would say. Sammie shrugged her shoulders and led the way out of the room to the toilets.  
  
They reached them and Rouge turned to Knuckles and Sonic, who were frowning in puzzlement.  
  
"I'm just going to sort these two out so you'll have to stay out here. You can think of a plan or something." Rouge said before pushing Sammie and Emily in.  
  
"Great, it's girls stuff! This is going to take the whole of break. What shall we do until then?" Sonic asked.  
  
"We'll just wander around until they're ready." Knuckles said and he set off down the corridor.  
  
"Are you sure that's a good idea? We could get lost." Sonic said.  
  
"Hey, we'll just go down the corridor and then back up again. We won't go that far." Knuckles reassured and he continued to walk down the corridor. They walked slowly in silence for a while until Sonic cleared his throat.  
  
"Knuckles, are you worried about what might happen?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I don't know why but I get the feeling that Gillian and Sean are big trouble."  
  
"Yes but I know that already."  
  
"No I don't mean it like that." Sonic stopped talking and Knuckles turned to him, realising that he was trying to say something important. "I mean that they could be trouble to your relationship with Rouge."  
  
"Why do you say that? Anyway, I thought you hated love." Knuckles smiled.  
  
"I don't hate it, I'd just never want to be in it, that's all. I'm happy for you two and I don't want to see that happiness destroyed by a pair of bullies." Sonic sounded so serious that Knuckles stopped walking to consider what he had said.  
  
"Don't worry Sonic, they can't change our feelings about each other."  
  
"No I don't mean that. I'm trying to say that they may create difficulties deliberately to stress you two or get you into trouble. I don't think they're worried about me but I saw the way they looked at you two. If they find out about it then who knows what may happen."  
  
"That's why they're not going to find out. We'll deal with them whatever happens." But Knuckles had been worried by Sonic's words so he changed the subject. "Why don't we go back and check up on the others?" They turned back and were soon outside the girl's toilets. They only had to wait a few minutes before Rouge left the room with Sammie and Emily who now looked completely different.  
  
Their skirts had now been hitched up and their shirts were untucked. Their socks were pulled down and Rouge had applied some makeup to their faces. Sammie's hair was less frizzy and Emily's had been tied back. Before they had looked plain but now they were pretty. They were staring down nervously but Sonic grinned.  
  
"You look great! Wow Rouge, you can do a lot in a short amount of time. You have completely changed." He said. They looked up and Sammie smiled cheekily.  
  
"Why thank you young sir. But now I think it's time to go to Geography if we want to get their table."  
  
"What do you mean?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"You want to start this plan don't you? What better way than to get the table they always sit at? Come on, we'd better go now." Sammie said and they set off towards the Geography room.  
  
************************  
  
Tails entered the school and was met by a woman in the reception.  
  
"Hello, I'm Miss Petrie. And you must be Miles." She smiled kindly and he smiled back.  
  
"Yes but call me Tails please." He said.  
  
"Ok then, Tails it is. I'm going to be your teacher and I'll show you where to put your bag." She led him out of the reception and along a corridor full of pegs. "Here's your peg. Take out your pencil case and put your bag on there." Tails had a red peg with his name on a small plaque above it. He took out his pencil case and put his bag on the peg. "I'll show you to the classroom now." They reached the end of the corridor and entered a new part of the school. "This is the C Block where year five and six classes are. You are in 5S." She said as she stood outside a classroom. They entered it and Tails looked around.  
  
The room was made up of thirty single desks lined up in rows all facing a table at the front and a white board.  
  
"The class sit in alphabetical order so you can just stand for the moment until the bell goes. Are you nervous?" She asked once Tails had settled himself down on the edge of a desk at the front.  
  
"A little but I'm sure I'll be ok. What are the people in this class like? Are they noisy, immature?" He asked and she smiled.  
  
"You're looking at things a bit seriously aren't you? No doubt they'll be noisy and immature to you but once you get to know them they're nice.if you give them the chance." She replied looking seriously at Tails.  
  
"I'll try to." He said and the bell went.  
  
"Come with me and we'll get the rabble sorted out." She laughed as she led him outside.  
  
Children were milling around outside the room but stood still when they saw Miss Petrie.  
  
"Good morning class. Now then, when I call your name come inside and sit down at the desk I show you." She announced. A hand near the back rose and she sighed. "Yes Marie?"  
  
"But surely miss, putting us in alphabetical order won't help us to learn but make us more disruptive?" She asked.  
  
~Show off, I can tell she's a mouthy little brat.~ Tails thought as he wrinkled his nose.  
  
"Yes maybe you are right Marie but if all of you can behave in alphabetical order, then I'll reconsider." She said. She looked at the piece of paper and started to read out names. She said Tails' and he entered the class, looking at where he was going to sit.  
  
~Yeah! A seat by the window! This seating arrangement won't be so bad as long as I don't have to sit next to-~ His thoughts were interrupted by Miss Petrie.  
  
"Marie Rally." Tails sat down in shock when he heard her name.  
  
~Oh no, not her! Why, why, why? Just don't look at her, just don't.~ He couldn't help looking up as she entered the room and as he stared at her, something fluttered inside him. ~She's really pretty.~ She had pale pink fur and just like him had two tails. A red ribbon in her hair kept it in place and she smiled as she saw Tails.  
  
"Hello, are you the new person?" She asked as she sat down next to him.  
  
"Yes." He replied shortly. She turned to look at him but he stared out of the window.  
  
"Are you ok? You look annoyed. Oh I see, you don't want to talk to me. That's ok with me." She smiled and turned to the person behind her. "Hi Lauren, how was your holiday?" She asked and Tails sighed as he leant on his elbows.  
  
~She didn't have to put it quite like that. Why do I care anyway? I don't even like her.~ Except something was niggling at the back of his mind. ~She's arrogant and thinks she's so brainy. But she is really pretty, and she's trying to be nice. Maybe it would be all right to be civil to her.~  
  
Miss Petrie sat down at her desk as the last person entered. She took out the register and took it. Once that was done, she stood up to talk to the class.  
  
"Right everyone, we have a new person joining us this year. His name's Tails and I want you to be nice to him ok?" Everyone turned to him but he just stared down at his desk. "Right it's English now so I'll give out the books."  
  
The lesson started and Tails copied down what she wrote on the board, not really paying attention. He stared out of the window, wishing he wasn't in a classroom.  
  
~I wonder what the others are doing? Wait until break, the teasing will start then.~ He was disrupted from his thinking though by a piece of paper that had landed on his table. He opened it up and read what was written there.  
  
Hi Tails its Marie writing to you. Are you sure you're ok? You look depressed and I was wondering if you wanted to talk about it. Please reply, even if it's to tell me to go away. (Marie)  
  
He looked over to her but she was writing in her book. He smiled slightly as he re-read her note and making sure Miss Petrie wasn't looking, he wrote below what she had written.  
  
I'm ok, just a bit down but it is the first day of term after all. I'm just missing my friends and I want to talk to them. Won't we get into trouble if Miss Petrie sees this? (Tails)  
  
He waited until Miss Petrie was facing the board before flicking it back onto her table. Realising that he had some stuff to write, he did so and then waited for the note to come back. The lesson went on like this, them two passing this note between them.  
  
I know, the first day is always the worst. Where are your friends then? Shouldn't they be at school? We will get into trouble but if we're careful then it doesn't matter. (Marie)  
  
Do the days actually get better than this? My friends are in school, they go to Maples. You're being a bit reckless aren't you? (Tails)  
  
Nope, they all remain as boring as this one is. Just think of it as a taste of what is to come. What are they called? My sister Gillian goes there but I hate her. And I wouldn't call it being reckless, I call it entertaining myself. (Marie)  
  
Great, I'm looking forward to my life from now on. My friends are Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge. They're in year 11. Why don't you like your sister? I must say though, this is good entertainment. (Tails)  
  
My sister's in year 11 too. She's nasty and a bully to me as well as the other people in her class. She thinks I'm a freak because I have two tails. I'm the only one in my family that does. (Marie)  
  
I wonder if they know her? Now I can see why you don't like her. You're not a freak but I know how you feel. (Tails)  
  
You'll soon find out if they do because she and her pet dog will probably try to beat them up. How do you know how I feel? (Marie)  
  
Sonic can deal with anyone but who's her pet dog? I will show you how I know at break time. (Tails)  
  
Sean, her boyfriend. He follows her round everywhere and will do whatever she wants. You're being very mysterious all of a sudden. (Marie)  
  
Well it's a bit hard to show you now. *Sigh* At least it's Science now. (Tails)  
  
I want to know now! Are you sure you can't tell me? And Science isn't that good you know, we're not even allowed to do any decent practical work. (Marie)  
  
You wouldn't believe me if I told you and patience is a virtue. Do you like Science then? (Tails)  
  
It's hard to be patient when you're in Science. I do like it but not the boring theory work. I like blowing things up and destroying electrical equipment. (Marie)  
  
You're rather vicious aren't you? Only ten minutes left but I wish there were none. (Tails)  
  
No I'm not, it just makes things more interesting in my life. Do you want to eat with my friends and me? (Marie)  
  
I agree, practical things in Science are a lot better than the writing. Yes please, if it's ok with you. Yes, the bell has gone. (Tails)  
  
Everyone put their books away and tried to get out of the room while Miss Petrie was shouting at them.  
  
"Class break time now! Stop rushing towards the door please." Everyone slowed down and Tails remained sat while the class left. Marie stood up and looked at him.  
  
"You can keep this if you want." She passed him the note and he put it in his pencil case. "Will you show me now?" She asked. In response, he stood up and turned around. "You have two tails too! I've never known anyone else like me. Do you think we're related?"  
  
"I don't know. Shall we go outside for break?" He asked. She nodded her head and they left the room.  
  
They stood outside and Marie pointed out different features to him.  
  
"That is the infants' playground and that's the sport field. This is the junior playground and over there are some benches to sit on." They walked over to one table where four people were sitting at it. Marie sat down and Tails perched himself on the end.  
  
"Hi Marie is this Tails?" One voice asked.  
  
"Yes. Everyone this is Tails. Tails this is Lauren the sassy chick, Peter the worrier, Hannah our ignorant one and Dan our sportsman." She introduced in turn.  
  
Lauren was a squirrel with pale grey fur and shoulder length grey hair; Peter was a human with light brown hair and blue eyes, Hannah was a human too but she had blonde hair and brown eyes and Dan was a rabbit with dark brown fur and pointy ears.  
  
"So then, who do you live with?" Lauren asked.  
  
"I live with my three friends and my guardian. Are you all friends with each other?"  
  
"Yes and we have been since reception year. So then, what do you think of the school so far?" Hannah asked.  
  
"It's not too bad I suppose. You all have titles but what is Marie known as?"  
  
"She is Marie the brain. But now we have to think of a name for you."  
  
"Come on Hannah, we have to get to know Tails first before we decide anything. So you live with your friends. Do they go to Maples?" Dan asked.  
  
"Yes they do, they're in year eleven."  
  
"They're in year eleven? If there is one thing, which we all have in common, it's the fact that we have brothers or sisters in year eleven. And you have friends there too.freaky." Peter commented.  
  
"Peter, it's just a coincidence. You'll meet our relatives soon enough but that isn't a good thing necessarily." Lauren muttered.  
  
"Am I the only one who gets on with the people I live with?" Tails asked.  
  
"Yes but you're not related to them and they probably treat you nicely." Dan noted.  
  
"I suppose you're right." Tails said.  
  
"Where do you actually live?" Marie asked.  
  
"Garden Views."  
  
"That's not far from where most of us live. I live along the road and so does Peter. Dan lives a couple of roads away and so do Marie and Lauren." Hannah explained.  
  
Just then, the bell went and they stood up slowly, watching people crowding into lines.  
  
"What are they doing?" Tails asked.  
  
"When break has finished, we line up in rows of classes and go in separately." Dan explained. They walked to their row and stood at the back. They waited for the years below them to go in before doing so themselves, Tails sighing at the thought of another two lessons.  
  
************************  
  
"Good, they're not here yet. Come on, this is where they sit." Sammie indicated a table at the back by the windows. They sat down at it and soon other people came trickling in. They looked at the five of them sitting there in wonder and some of them pointed at Sammie and Emily.  
  
"Is it really that big a deal?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Of course it is. They've sat here since year seven. I'm going to love seeing their faces when they come in." Sonic's compliments earlier had brought confidence to Emily and Sammie and they grinned at each other.  
  
Silence fell upon the room when Gillian, Sean and their gang walked in. They began to walk towards the table when they realised that they were already sitting there.  
  
"Just ignore them ok? So then Sammie and Emily, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come shopping with me one day? You know, to get some new clothes etc. for your makeover." Rouge said.  
  
"You mean it's not over yet? I thought we were doing all right. Hang on a minute, I've suddenly realised you said the words 'come shopping'." Sammie shivered slightly and they continued to talk, ignoring Gillian and Sean.  
  
Sonic looked at them from the corner of his eye and saw that Gillian and Sean were staring at Knuckles and Rouge. They exchanged a look before going to sit down at another table.  
  
~They're going to do something, I can just tell. And the worst thing is, I don't have a clue what it is! I wish Tails was here; he would be able to tell me what's going on.~ He stopped thinking when an old man entered the room.  
  
He had a long beard and looked about a hundred. He walked slowly in the room and sat down at his desk. As he sat down, Miss Dink came in.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt your lesson Mr Kenly but I forgot to give the students their planners." She had a box in her hands and she quickly passed them around. The three of them looked at their planners with interest and Sammie started to rummage around her bag. They were A5 notepads with 'Maples High School' typed on the front in yellow lettering with a dark blue background.  
  
"Look at this Emily, it looks like we have something to do in Geography for once." Sammie commented.  
  
"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Instead of becoming vegetables, we can decorate our planners and keep ourselves entertained." Sammie explained. She and Emily swapped planners and turned to the notes section. They started to write something in them when Mr Kenly started talking.  
  
Now the three of them understood why it was easier to read the textbook. He seemed to talk into his beard and they frowned in puzzlement but Sammie and Emily seemed untroubled.  
  
"Umm you two, did you just understand that?" Sonic asked.  
  
"He said we're getting new textbooks and folders this year and he wants us to keep them clean." Sammie said offhand.  
  
"How do you do that?" Rouge asked.  
  
"/I/ don't, Sammie's the only one who can clearly understand him. She's a translator for me." Emily explained.  
  
"It's not that hard, you just listen to everything he says before understanding it." Sammie said as she passed round new folders and textbooks. Mr Kenly carried on talking and they looked at Sammie expectantly as she continued to write in Emily's planner. He finished talking and the whole class looked puzzled as one. Sammie meanwhile had opened her folder and her textbook and started to write in it.  
  
"Have you finished writing my message yet?" Emily asked.  
  
"No, I'll have to complete it once we've done the work. We have to copy out a paragraph from p.56." She said and the others started to do so.  
  
They spent the rest of the lesson working in silence and left quickly once the bell had gone. Maths was just as uneventful until five minutes before the end of the lesson.  
  
"Right everyone, get out your planners and copy down the homework." The teacher announced.  
  
"And we'd been doing so well." Emily said as she opened her planner.  
  
"Complete exercises two and three on page twenty for tomorrow's lesson and no excuses." Sammie quickly looked at the questions and sighed in frustration.  
  
"That's four pages worth of questions! Lunch is going to be fun."  
  
"What are we doing at lunch then?" Sonic asked.  
  
"This of course! We do our homework at school so we can relax at home." Emily explained.  
  
"But isn't that-" Rouge started.  
  
"Something only nerds do? Yes but you have the choice of doing nothing at lunch, no listening to music, shopping etc. and being stressed at home. Or you can do it at lunch with your friends and relax at home, chatting, shopping or anything else you're interested in. Personally, the latter option is more appealing to me, except for the shopping." Sammie said.  
  
"Maybe we should do the questions at lunch then. Where do you usually do it?" Rouge asked.  
  
"In the library."  
  
"But it's nice and sunny today. Can't we do it outside?" Sonic suggested.  
  
Just then the bell went and they left the classroom, heading for a table outside.  
  
"We can do it here." Emily said as she sat down. The others did so too and Sammie looked at the questions as they ate their lunches.  
  
"There are forty five questions in total in both exercises so to make it equal, we should so nine each. I'll do the first nine now while you finish eating." Sammie opened her book and began to quickly do her questions. Sonic looked at her in amazement as she sped through them.  
  
"How does she do that?" He asked and looking up, Emily smiled.  
  
"She may absolutely awful at Japanese but she makes up for it by being brilliant at Maths. I don't know why but she's just been always able to do it. We'd better start our bits soon." They got out their books.  
  
"I'll do the next nine if you want." Emily suggested and when no one said anything, she started writing. Sammie by now had finished and she gave the three of them her book. They copied them out and then did the same with Emily's questions.  
  
"Who wants to do the next ones?" Sonic asked and Rouge volunteered. "So what shall we do once this is done?"  
  
"We'll show you some places if you want. Did you say where your friend goes to school?" Emily asked.  
  
"He goes to Inverio. Why?"  
  
"We can see the junior playground from here. He will probably be there about now."  
  
"So does that mean we can see him?" Emily nodded her head and Sonic smiled.  
  
"That would be nice. Have you finished yet Rouge?" She stopped writing and nodded her head.  
  
"Yeah, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."  
  
"I told you so. The work is easy enough so you don't flunk the subjects." Sammie said. The others copied her work and when they were done, Knuckles started the next part.  
  
"Is there any reason why you want to do the last ones?" Rouge asked Sonic.  
  
"It means that I haven't had to do anything up until now." Sonic said.  
  
"I thought it might have been that. Anyway, when do you want to go shopping?"  
  
"You were serious when you said that earlier? Why don't we do it on a Saturday? It can be an end of the week 'treat'." Sammie gulped slightly.  
  
"Do you want us to tart ourselves up tomorrow as well?" Emily asked.  
  
"If you can. Do you have any make up at home?"  
  
"Just because we don't wear it, doesn't mean we don't have it. I might have to tie Sammie down to a chair though."  
  
~What are they doing there? They've got a plan. But I probably won't realise what it is until it happens.~ Sonic saw Gillian and Sean staring at them from a different table.  
  
"Sonic, do you want to copy Knuckles' questions? Any time soon would be nice." Sammie said.  
  
"Sorry about that. I'll do that last lesson if you want." He looked at how much space he needed to leave and then did his questions.  
  
"Yes, you probably will have to tie me down. I don't really wear it because I spend a lot of time after school practising martial arts." Sammie explained. She finished with Knuckles' book and passed it back to him. "Now it's just the last few questions then we won't have to worry about it anymore."  
  
"How much time do you spend practising then?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"Two nights a week for each one for about two hours. I've just got my brown belt for judo so it's a resting period for me at the moment."  
  
"Wow, that's a lot of time. You must be very good then." Rouge commented.  
  
"Yeah I'm ok I suppose. I'm crap at Japanese though, which is a bit weird."  
  
"How do you do the work then?"  
  
"I don't, I usually get Emily to do it for me. My parents know about it but they aren't worried. My mum is terrible with foreign languages too. It runs in the family I suppose."  
  
"Have you finished yet?" Emily asked Sonic.  
  
"Yep just this last one to do." He wrote down the answer and passed the book to Emily and Sammie. "The others can copy the answers later." They shrugged their shoulders and wrote down the questions. While they did so, everyone packed their stuff away and soon Emily and Sammie were doing the same.  
  
"Ok, let's show you the fence." Sammie announced and they walked across the courtyard to a wire fence where Inverio was. They leaned up against it and the three of them scanned for Tails. After a few minutes though, it was clear he wasn't there.  
  
"I wonder why he isn't there? They aren't allowed to stay inside during lunch." Emily pondered.  
  
"I'm sure he has his reasons. You can meet him after school if you want." Sonic said.  
  
"Oh yeah and we can walk home together because we live in the same direction." Sammie added. They walked away from the fence and Sammie plus Emily continued to show them other places throughout the rest of lunch.  
  
************************  
  
Tails sat down at his desk and wondered how he was going to survive two lessons of Maths at once. Although he liked mechanics, he had never liked the whole equations and lengths part as he found it boring and tedious. So finding out he had two lessons worth of it made him bang his head on the table. He didn't even have the energy to write a note to Marie and she didn't either by the looks of things.  
  
This boring lesson did have one advantage though. It gave him the chance to work out his feelings and decide on how the day had gone so far. He was still confused about Marie but knowing that for the first time in his life, no one had tried to make fun of him was very nice. And although Lauren seemed a bit cold and Hannah was very giggly, Dan and Peter weren't that bad. He knew that he hadn't even been there for a whole day but the fact that things had gone so well made him happy and he actually liked school.  
  
Lunchtime soon arrived and they talked about trivial things as they ate. Music, Maths (At least how boring it was) and their families were just some of the things. Tails didn't participate much in the conversation but instead watched and listened to what the others said. He found that Dan was a lot like Sonic in that he was impatient and cheerful. Hannah was only giggly because she felt insecure about not being as good as the others and Lauren was trying to come over as being mature for her age. Peter was nice, as long as you ignored him when he started to panic but he was still puzzled about Marie. Sometimes she would act normally and participate in the conversation but other times she would interrupt people and ignore them if they said something she didn't like. Her actions confused him and he couldn't make out why she did the things she did.  
  
That didn't matter though when suddenly a group of boys walked up to them. Tails recognised them from his class but didn't know much about them. The others jumped up though and he stood up slowly, puzzled by their behaviour.  
  
"There he is Bruce, let's get him!" A boy rabbit shouted to Bruce, a big brute of a human. Tails realised with shock that they were pointing at him and he backed away slowly.  
  
"What are you lot doing here? You leave him alone!" Dan shouted. Bruce clicked his fingers and a couple of people surrounded Dan and started to drag him away. Some other people did the same with the others until just him and Marie were left. Bruce grabbed Marie by her neck and lifted her off the ground.  
  
"You let her go right now!" Tails shouted but he just laughed.  
  
"You see him there?" Marie nodded her head slightly. "I have chosen him to be your next victim."  
  
"Please Bruce, anyone else but him, please." But her pleading didn't affect him.  
  
"You will do it unless you want things to change. And I'm not going to leave until you do!" He put her down roughly and Tails went to help her up but she just pushed him away.  
  
"Get away from me you creep! Who do you think you are, sitting with whoever you like?" She slapped him hard across the face and the stinging sensation made his eyes swim. He looked at her in confusion but seeing her glare, turned around and walked away. "And don't you ever dare talk to me again!" She screamed after him and Tails started to cry silently.  
  
He found a clump of trees in the corner and climbed one quickly. He sat himself on a branch high up and making sure he was well hidden, he started to rock back and forth.  
  
~Why did she do that to me? I thought we were friends! I'm glad I was wary of her; she's just a mindless bully. And I thought I might be happy here. I've gone from having five friends to none in the space of half a day. I'm not going back to that school, whatever happens.~ He thought angrily and remained where he was when the bell went. He sat like this for the whole afternoon, the same thoughts running around his head. The end of the day came slowly and Tails jumped out of the tree quickly making his way towards the school gate, ignoring his bag.  
  
************************  
  
At the end of form time, in which not much happened, Rouge, Sonic and Knuckles made their way up to the library as they had been instructed to do. When they arrived, they found Mrs Skillet waiting outside the door.  
  
"Hello again you three. I have been told that you are fluent in Japanese so therefore I thought you probably wouldn't want to do it. You can sit in the library and talk quietly or do any homework if you have some, but you must stay in there. I don't like students wandering around the school, is that understood?" They nodded their heads and entered the library. No one was there so they sat themselves in a corner and Sonic and Knuckles got out their Maths books.  
  
"I can imagine this is going to be a fun hour. Well if we can get this over and done with quickly then we can talk for the rest of the time." Rouge said and looked at the table.  
  
"What is it?" Sonic asked.  
  
"I left my Maths book in the form room. I'll be back in a minute, I have to get it." Rouge said and she quickly walked out of the library.  
  
As she left one building, she slowed down slightly, not seeing the need to rush.  
  
"After all, it's not like anything is going to happen." She said aloud.  
  
"Oh I wouldn't say that." A voice whispered behind her. She spun round and saw Sean standing in front of her.  
  
"What are you doing here? You should be in a lesson." She accused.  
  
"It's called skiving you know. And what about you, what is your reason for not being there?" He asked, inching closer to her. She turned away from him and carried on towards the room.  
  
"That is none of your business." He grabbed her by the wrist and she struggled against him.  
  
"Oh but it is." He whispered before dragging her behind some bushes.  
  
"What do you want?" She yelled and he used his other hand to cover her mouth.  
  
"Who else but you?" He smiled evilly and pushed her against the wall. He removed his hand from her mouth and she screamed loudly. He pressed it back again and squeezed her wrist. Her struggles grew weaker as he put more pressure on. "Don't you do that again or it might be your throat." She nodded her head and looked fearfully at him. He lifted his hand away and leaned forward quickly. He started to kiss her fervently and the shock initially made her struggle madly. She stopped though when she felt a hand go towards her neck and he started to stroke her arms instead.  
  
~Ok Rouge, just keep calm. As long as you remain still, he won't hurt you.~ She thought but him stroking her made her feel dirty. ~Why is he doing this to me? Hang on this is what Sammie said.~  
  
"The one you really have to look out for Rouge is him, Sean Bonnet. He tries to hit on any single girl who has any features about her and some that are already booked." The memory flashed through her mind but was brought abruptly to her senses when she felt a hand sneaking up her shirt. She tried to move away but he kept her immobile, crushed against the wall.  
  
"Just keep calm and I won't hurt you." He whispered and she suddenly realised what he might want to do.  
  
"Oh no you don't!" She shouted and kneed him hard in the crotch. He buckled and she took this chance to run as fast as she could. He managed to grab her by her leg though and she was dragged down onto the ground.  
  
She looked around in panic and saw Knuckles wandering around, obviously trying to look for her.  
  
"Knuckles help me!" She yelled and seeing her, he ran towards them. He saw Sean and lifted him up. Rouge sighed in relief and smiled. "Thanks Knuckles, we'd better go now." He didn't reply though and she saw with shock that Knuckles was trying to strangle him. "Knuckles let go! Don't hurt him!" She screamed but he ignored her. He put him back down on the ground and twisted his arm around.  
  
"Let go of me! I'm sorry ok?" Sean shouted but closed his eyes when he felt something crunch in his arm. He stumbled backwards and Knuckles punched him square on the face, knocking him out.  
  
"Knuckles what did you do that for? I told you not to hurt him! You're going to be in so much trouble!" Knuckles looked at her but suddenly they heard someone walking towards them.  
  
"What's going on here?" It was Mrs Skillet and she definitely did not look happy. "I thought I told you to stay in the library! And what have you done to him? You have a lot of explaining to do!" They looked down in shame and she stood above them, her arms crossed.  
  
"Well I left my Maths book in the form room so I went back to get it. Sean grabbed my arm and he was trying to." She tailed off and shivered.  
  
"Trying to what?"  
  
"He was kissing me against my will. I couldn't do anything when I saw Knuckles. He came over and, well you know the rest." Rouge ended.  
  
"Nothing else happened?" Her look had softened slightly but her arms remained crossed.  
  
"No, that's all that happened. We're sorry for what's gone on, this wasn't meant to happen."  
  
"Is this true Knuckles?" She turned to him and he looked up, staring at her.  
  
"Yes it is. I'm not sorry for what I did to him though." Rouge winced but he ignored her.  
  
"I'm afraid that you will have to have a detention tomorrow lunchtime."  
  
"A detention? But all I did was knock him out!"  
  
"Yes but that is not acceptable at this school. And you haven't just knocked him out, you broke his arm too." Knuckles frowned in puzzlement.  
  
"I did?" He glanced at Rouge and she gave him a warning look. "That wasn't meant to happen, I don't think so at least."  
  
"If you carry on talking like that I'll make it after school instead. I want you to go and get your stuff and remain in the library for the rest of the lesson, do I make myself clear?" They nodded their heads and she carried Sean to the medical room.  
  
Once she had gone, Rouge turned to Knuckles. She was shaking in anger and he looked away.  
  
"What did you go and break his arm for? I told you not to hurt him, so what do you go and do? You try and kill him!" She said.  
  
"I was telling the truth when I said I didn't mean to do it! All I saw was him trying to hurt you and I suppose I got carried away. I'm sorry, I didn't realise you would be so against it, seeing as he tried to assault you." He snapped and this made her stop.  
  
"You didn't realise what he was going to do to me."  
  
"You weren't telling the truth earlier were you? What happened?" He asked quietly.  
  
"I'm not going to tell you because you'll just try and kill him then. I just want to forget about it. Come on, let's go to the form room." She walked away and he stood for a moment as Sonic's words came back into his mind.  
  
"I'm trying to say that they may create difficulties deliberately to stress you two or get you into trouble. I don't think they're worried about me but I saw the way they looked at you two." He wondered if this is what Sonic meant.  
  
~Rouge is definitely stressed and I am in trouble. A detention, how on earth did I manage to get one on my first day?~ Sighing, he walked after Rouge who was nearly at the room. He waited outside as she got her book and then walked back to the library in silence.  
  
They entered the library and Sonic looked up at them with interest. They sat down and he passed back Knuckles' book, which he had been copying out of.  
  
"What happened to you two? You certainly took your time." He looked amused but frowned when they remained quiet.  
  
"Lets just say that Sean was looking for trouble so Knuckles here decided to break his arm and beat him unconscious." Rouge explained.  
  
"I think a bit more happened than that!" But Knuckles stopped when he saw the look on Rouge's face.  
  
"And not just that! He's now got a detention too!" Rouge added. Sonic stared at Knuckles in surprise but he didn't say anything.  
  
"Well this day has certainly been eventful. I wonder if Tails has had a good day?" Sonic pondered.  
  
"I hope so. But now I just want to finish copying up this Maths work." Rouge said and she took Sonic's book. She copied out his part and then Knuckles did the same. He had just finished when the bell rang so they went down to the form room where they waited for Sammie and Emily. Once they were there, they put their books away and walked out of the school.  
  
"So then, did much happen during your lesson?" Sonic asked Emily.  
  
"Yep, Sammie managed to cause our teacher to have a mental breakdown because she's that bad at Japanese." Emily said and Sammie smiled cheekily.  
  
"But you must admit, it did make the lesson more interesting. Did anything happen with you?"  
  
"Did it? Knuckles beat up Sean and broke his arm!" Sonic said cheerfully.  
  
"And he got a detention because of it!" Rouge added and Emily raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Did you? I'm not surprised to be honest." They walked towards Inverio, not aware of what was happening meanwhile.  
  
************************  
  
Tails walked quickly, keeping his head down in case someone recognised him. He heard someone calling his name and turning around, realised that it was Marie. He scowled and walked faster.  
  
"Tails wait, I need to talk to you! Why are you walking away from me?" She shouted as she tried to catch up with him. He was so mixed up that he didn't notice Shadow who had decided to wait for him.  
  
"Hi Tails.bye Tails." Shadow said as he walked straight past. He then heard Marie calling his name and running up to him.  
  
"Excuse me, but do you know Tails?" She asked Shadow breathlessly.  
  
"Yes but what did you do to him? I assume it's you who upset him." He said looking straight at her. She kept up his gaze though.  
  
"I don't know what I did but I'm worried about him." She said and seeing him disappear, ran after him.  
  
They nearly collided into the others who had also seen Tails walking off too.  
  
"What's going on here?" Sonic demanded.  
  
"I don't know. I was just waiting for him and he walked straight past me."  
  
"It doesn't look like he's going back home though. He's making for the park." Sammie commented.  
  
"I'll go and look for him, you lot go back to the flat ok?" Rouge said but Sonic shook his head.  
  
"No, I'm his best friend I should go."  
  
"Don't argue Sonic ok? I'll find him, don't you worry." Rouge said and she ran off after him.  
  
"Oh hello Marie, I didn't realise you were here. Do you know anything about this?" Emily asked.  
  
"Oh hi Emily, hi Sammie. I'm sure everyone can do their explaining on the way home. There's nothing we can do now except for wait for Rouge to come back." Marie said and they set off home, each explaining what had happened in their day.  
  
************************  
  
Not knowing where he was going, Tails ran for the park and slowed down as he entered it. Now he was here, he felt calmer and searched for the bench he had found yesterday. Once he had done so, he sat down, looking at his reflection in the lake. Seeing no one around, he started to sing softly to himself.  
  
"I sit and wait  
  
Does an angel contemplate my fate?  
  
And do they know  
  
The places where we go  
  
When we're grey and old  
  
'Cos I've been told  
  
That salvation lets their wings unfold  
  
So when I'm lying in my bed  
  
Thoughts running through my head  
  
And I feel that love is dad  
  
I'm loving angels instead  
  
And through it all she offers me protection  
  
A lot of love and affection  
  
Whether I'm right or wrong  
  
And down the waterfall  
  
Wherever it may take me  
  
I know that life won't break me  
  
When I come to call she won't forsake me  
  
I'm loving angels instead  
  
When I'm feeling weak  
  
And my pain walks down a one-way street  
  
I look above  
  
And I know I'll always be blessed with love  
  
And as the feeling grows  
  
She breathes flesh to my bones  
  
And when love is dead  
  
I'm loving angels instead  
  
And through it all she offers me protection  
  
A lot of love and affection  
  
Whether I'm right or wrong  
  
And down the waterfall  
  
Wherever it may take me  
  
I know that life won't break me  
  
When I come to call she won't forsake me  
  
I'm loving angels instead." As he finished singing, Tails wiped away the tears in his eyes and stared out across the lake. A few pigeons trotted around the bench but someone walking towards him quickly caused them to flutter away. He looked up uninterested but was surprised when he saw that the person was Rouge. She sat down next to him and he turned back to the lake in silence. She did so too, and for some time the only thing heard was the wind rustling the leaves and an occasional quack of a duck on the lake.  
  
"That's one of my favourite songs you know. Do you believe in angels then?" Her voice rang loud and clear amongst the quiet.  
  
"I don't know what to believe anymore. But there must be something out there watching over me. That's what I tell myself anyway." He glanced up at the sky as he said this but sighed and looked downwards.  
  
"Do you want to talk?"  
  
"Yes but not about what's happened. Rouge, when did you realise that you were in love with Knuckles?" This question caught her by surprise and she thought for a moment.  
  
"It's hard to say a definite event but I think I first considered the idea when he saved my life."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"We had just fought against each other and we were arguing when I lost my footing. I would have died but he grabbed my arm even though he was shouting at me a few moments earlier. That made me angry and so I said some things I didn't mean to. He apologised for hurting me and then disappeared. I wanted to see him again and so I did." She stopped as she thought about what had happened. "Why do you want to know?"  
  
"No reason but what does it feel like to be in love?"  
  
"It's hard to describe that too. When I'm with Knuckles though, I'm happy and carefree. I want to hold him close to me and stay like that." Her eyes widened in realisation. "There's someone you like isn't there?" Tails blushed slightly and she smiled.  
  
"There is, maybe. But I'm worried that she doesn't like me in the same way. Sometimes I want to tell but other times she acts really arrogantly and annoys me."  
  
"If you really love her then he bad habits won't irritate you. I mean Knuckles is hot headed but I'm sure you know him well enough to realise this." He nodded his head and without realising it, she continued speaking. "He doesn't listen to what you say and misunderstands you. He's ashamed of the way he feels-"  
  
"Rouge, are you ok? You've gone really red and there's a dangerous glint in your eyes." Tails commented and Rouge frowned.  
  
"I'm sorry, got a bit carried away there. What were we talking about?" She asked and this time, Tails frowned. ~Why is he looking at me like that? And why did I keep going on about Knuckles?~ She thought to herself.  
  
"What do you like about him then?" He asked instead.  
  
~I wish he wouldn't ask me these sort of questions, he's just confusing me.~ She smiled and cleared her throat, seeing his concerned look. "He loves me for who I am. He's made me very happy."  
  
"I can tell. I wish I could be as happy."  
  
"Well you can. All you have to do is tell her how you feel."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No buts. This might be your only chance at being truly happy so there's no point in considering it."  
  
"But if I don't end up happy, I'll end up sad instead."  
  
"Tails, it is up to you and only you as to what you do. I can only give you advice after all."  
  
"I know but I'm very glad of it. You've cleared a lot of things up." He hugged her and she squeezed his shoulders.  
  
"I'm glad I could help." But in truth she was worried. ~He may feel better not but he's just made me confused.~  
  
"Can you not tell the others about the girl please?"  
  
"If you don't want to but what about Sonic? He wasn't very happy about me telling him to go home."  
  
"I'll talk to him but now I think it's time for /us/ to go home." Tails said and they stood up, making their way back to the flat.  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
S. Chensu: 29 pages!!!!!!! I am never reading that much again!  
  
Luff: The worse thing is that the next episode is just as long as this one!  
  
Sonic: Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!  
  
S. Chensu: I don't see what you're moaning about; you're not the one who has to grammar check this damn thing.  
  
Luff: But we are determined to finish it. Despite the fact episodes 14 and 15 are still not written.  
  
S. Chensu: Yes but 16-25 are written!  
  
Eggman: That doesn't count for much seeing as you have two in the middle missing.  
  
S. Chensu: Don't worry, I promise they will be written before they have to come out. We've got two weeks to do episode 14, should be enough time.  
  
Luff: But until then, please review! They've been a bit sparse recently. 


	12. Day seven in the STREKS gang house

S. Chensu: Hello people, here is episode 12 of the Adventures of the STREKS gang. As we haven't done this for a while, I felt that this episode would be a good place to thank everyone who has either reviewed our story or gone so far as to actually put the story in their favourites. Or even us!  
  
Luff: It makes us feel really happy to know that our story is so appreaciated so here it goes. We would like to thank the following people:  
  
Mai- I know you're desperate to find out what happens but it will all become clear soon. And Luff promises she will try and get chapter 8 of her Yu-Gi-Oh! story done at some point.  
  
Yugi- Ditto but it's nice to hear your reviews too. Do try and remember to actually comment on the story at some point though, this is a Sonic story, not a Yu-Gi-Oh! story.  
  
Yersi Fanel- We're trying to go as fast as we can but we have school AS Levels, GCSEs and life in general to deal with too. If none of that lot existed then we would update every couple of days.  
  
Shadygoat2199- Nice to know you appreciate the story and hopefully if we don't get writer's block at any time soon (which has happened to all of our other stories) it will all be up by the summer. Of course if you want it all before then, you're going to have to review!  
  
RichaCo- All right, all right! We're updating! And yes, there's meant to be a sense of foreboding, a new terror will rise! But not until episode 15! And we can't believe you don't have to wear uniform! Luff still has to but luckily S. Chensu is now in 6th form so she can wear what she wants! We apologise greatly for the boringness of the last couple of episodes but there won't be anymore boring parts. At least we don't think so... And in answer to your question, yes the bitch will get her comeuppance! There will be a fight, but it won't be too bad because we don't want to deal with the scary ff.net Agent Smiths.  
  
1- Yes, there will be some freaky parts in this story. If the stuff now worries you then just you wait until episode 18! Then everything you ever knew to be true will go out of the window (but not in a Matrix style).  
  
Dragon Master Naya- We're glad you find some of this funny but it gets a bit serious later on so you might not laugh so much then. And it will get more mysterious soon... Nice rhyme!  
  
Ri2- In response to your question, we started writing this story before we had finished the game so we didn't know she was there! By the time we knew, we had already written the first 10 or so episodes and it was too much hassle to put her in. So she won't be appearing at all in this story. We're very sorry if this annoys you but it seems to working well without her.  
  
S. Chensu: If you're not there it's because you haven't reviewed! Although we've done a personal message for each, if you read them all you may get some little bits of information as to what is going to happen. Now that's over and done with, we won't have to do it for another 12 episodes!  
  
Luff: As we can't have another four episodes of them being at school, we have decided to squeeze the rest of the week into one episode and look at it like that. Therefore forgive us if things are a bit brief but there are only a few important events. There are also more notes but we'll use the same system as before.  
  
S. Chensu: As usual, we don't own the Sonic characters, only the characters we mentioned in our disclaimer last episode. And the story itself. Luckily no songs today.  
  
Luff: Time to go!  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Episode twelve: Day seven in the STREKS gang house...  
  
Rouge and Tails arrived home to Eggman doing a lot of shouting while Sonic and Shadow looked on amused.  
  
"A detention on your first day of term? How on earth did you manage that?"  
  
"That's what I asked myself. And it wasn't my fault, he forced me too. He was trying to-" But Rouge interrupted him.  
  
"Knuckles, don't go and tell everyone what happened ok?" She said sharply. Everyone turned towards her, suddenly realising that she and Tails were there.  
  
"How am I meant to when you won't even tell me?" He snapped.  
  
"Hey you two, sort that out later ok? So you beat up this person and broke his arm-"  
  
"He was trying to hurt Rouge, I couldn't just stand by and let him assault my girlfriend!" Knuckles shouted.  
  
"Why, why..." Knuckles looked at Eggman nervously and wondered what would happen if he exploded. He was relieved then when he heard Eggman's next words. "Why... Well, that's all right then."  
  
"What?" Knuckles was shocked.  
  
"If you were protecting Rouge then it's not quite as bad. I'm still slightly annoyed at you having a detention but she is your girlfriend and I can understand why you did it." He explained.  
  
"But I told him not to attack Sean!" Rouge said.  
  
"Yes but if he hadn't, what would he have done to you?" Eggman pointed out.  
  
"Maybe you're right. I need to talk to Knuckles though, alone..." She emphasised and he followed her into her room.  
  
"What do you think that was all about?" Sonic asked.  
  
"She's going to tell him what happened of course. He did say he didn't know so it seems sensible to assume that." Tails suggested.  
  
"You could be right there. What happened earlier with you though?" Sonic said and Tails sat down on the sofa.  
  
"I had a very bad day, that's all. I'll be all right but please, don't be angry at Rouge. She probably would have understood it better than you." Tails said and Sonic shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Ok, if you say so. Anyway, I was going to tell you what happened today..."  
  
************************  
  
Knuckles shut the door behind Rouge and stood by it as she walked towards the window, leaning on it.  
  
"Knuckles, I'm sorry. Eggman is right, I should be thankful for what you did." She admitted.  
  
"Don't worry, I can understand why you were angry. I did act rather recklessly." He replied. They stood in silence for a few moments and he walked towards her slowly. When he was a metre away from her, he stopped when she suddenly announced,  
  
"He touched me you know."  
  
"What do you mean? I don't understand..." Knuckles said, frowning in puzzlement.  
  
"He felt me... He put his hands up my top..." She whispered and put her hands over her eyes, trying to stop herself from crying. She couldn't stop the tears though and she shuddered. He held her in his arms and she put her arms around his neck.  
  
"Rouge, it's all over. He's a stupid prat-"  
  
"I know but he was sly enough to be able to do it! I can still feel them, the way he moved them..." She sobbed.  
  
"Why didn't you tell anyone? He's assaulted you!"  
  
"Because I don't want to have to remember it again and again. I know what he did but that's not the worst thing..."  
  
"What else did he do to you?"  
  
"Nothing but it's just that part of my brain was telling me to stop him." She paused, not wanting to say. Knuckles waited though and she took a deep breath. "A small part of me liked it. I felt something that I'd never felt before and it felt good." She looked away from Knuckles, ashamed but he didn't say anything or even move.  
  
~A total stranger manages to make her feel good so easily... She must think I'm rubbish.~ He thought and he let go of her.  
  
"Knuckles, are you ok?" She asked quietly.  
  
"Hmm? It's just that you didn't know him at all..."  
  
"I realise that but I had to tell you the truth or it would be on my conscience."  
  
"Maybe it would have been better for you not to have told me at all..."  
  
"Knuckles, it's important that we tell each other the truth, what ever happens." She looked at him but he avoided her gaze.  
  
"Maybe I should leave now." He stepped towards the door and she grabbed his wrist.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"I'm obviously nothing to you..." He muttered and she frowned.  
  
"Why on earth do you say that?" She asked sharply but he didn't answer and left the room. "Knuckles, don't walk away from me without telling me what you mean." She shouted as he walked to his room. He ignored her and shut the door but she opened it and stormed into his room.  
  
"What do you think has happened with them?" Sonic asked Tails, worried by Rouge's raised voice.  
  
"I don't know but everyone has arguments. It'll be sorted out eventually." Tails reassured.  
  
"If you say so... So then, where was I?"  
  
"You had just finished telling me what happened with you today. So Sean and Gillian are at the top of the class hierarchy? Then maybe the incident with Knuckles and him will have helped you change things although I doubt Gillian will be very happy." Tails commented.  
  
"I know but the weird thing is that I knew something like this was going to happen. I remember telling Knuckles that them two would create trouble for him and Rouge but he just said he could deal with it. He may have done so but it's come at the price of their relationship." Sonic sounded so serious that Tails didn't dare to ridicule him.  
  
"And you told Knuckles this? I wonder why he didn't listen? I don't think their relationship has been affected that much by it." But Tails couldn't help privately agreeing with Sonic's words. ~The way Rouge talked about Knuckles earlier, it was almost like she would prefer to be without him...~  
  
"Yeah, you're probably right as usual. Did you get any homework? Hang on, I've just suddenly realised that you never came home with your bag. What happened?" He asked.  
  
"I had a bit of trouble at lunch and so I skived off the last lesson. I suppose in the confusion I left my bag behind-"  
  
"You skived-" Sonic shouted but Tails put his hand over his mouth.  
  
"Not quite so loud thank you. Yes I did but I had my reasons." He hissed.  
  
"I didn't realise that school for you was quite so bad..."  
  
"It isn't but lunchtime was pretty dramatic." Tails stared at Sonic's expectant look and sighed. "All right, I'll tell you but don't tell any of the others ok?" Sonic nodded his head and Tails began to re account the tale of lunchtime...  
  
************************  
  
"What are you trying to say? Knuckles, stop ignoring me!" She shouted as she shut the door behind her.  
  
"I'm saying that he's obviously a lot better than me... I remember Sonic told me that he would create trouble for us two and he has, at least for me." He flopped down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling.  
  
"Knuckles, he may have made me feel good but you make me feel amazing..." She said, sitting down beside him. He leaned up on his elbows and she stared into his eyes. "And that is the honest truth."  
  
"Do you mean that?" He asked seriously.  
  
"Of course I do. I love you and that is never going to change." She whispered, hugging him close to her. ~Why did I say that? Have I totally forgotten about the conversation with Tails? Maybe that would be a good idea...~ She thought as she continued to hold him. "Just don't try and kill him ok?"  
  
"If you want." He said grudgingly. "Will you be ok dealing with him?" Her grip tightened slightly but she didn't say anything. He looked at, concerned by her silence and he saw her nod her head slightly.  
  
"I'll be ok." She whispered and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled slightly and she detached herself from him, making her way to the living room. He remained in his room though, thinking about what had happened.  
  
************************  
  
"Tails, I never realised! Are you sure you shouldn't tell the others?" Sonic asked once Tails had finished talking.  
  
"No, don't tell anyone! I just want to forget about it." He sighed and Sonic nodded his head.  
  
"Ok, I understand. What about this girl though? What are you going to do about her?"  
  
"Nothing of course. Now I know what she's like I can handle her as long as she doesn't start trying to be friendly again."  
  
"As long as you're sure..."  
  
************************  
  
Tuesday brought fear for Tails though as he walked into the school. The others had not said anything and were more concerned about what the day would bring for them but that was all right with him. The fewer questions asked, the better. Although he had told Sonic what had happened, he never explained how painful it really felt to not be able to be friends with Marie. He sat down at his desk and stared through the window even when the others walked in.  
  
Nothing in particular happened until lunchtime when he was cornered by Sarah and Dan.  
  
"What are you playing at Tails? Why won't you talk to any of us? And about yesterday, why didn't you help Marie when Bruce was attacking her? She thought you were a friend, and so did we..." Dan demanded and Tails frowned.  
  
"Bruce wasn't attacking her, she was attacking me!"  
  
"Do you really expect us to believe that? We saw the bruises that you gave her!" Sarah shouted. It was obvious that they weren't going to listen to him and this made him angry. In his anger, he said something, which he instantly regretted.  
  
"It doesn't matter who did what because you've just said we're not friends anyway."  
  
"We may not be friends but we have a duty to protect Marie from bullies like you." Dan said.  
  
"Oh just fuck off ok? You're attempt at being tough doesn't really work."  
  
"Ooh, you use the word fuck, that really shows your maturity." Sarah said.  
  
"Yeah, like you know anything about maturity. Looking down at people and treating them like shit is not maturity." He turned away and ignored them when they started shouting at him.  
  
Although he had felt angry then, now that the adrenalin had gone, he felt exhausted. Without thinking, he settled himself in the same tree as yesterday to waste the afternoon there.  
  
************************  
  
"So then, what happened?" Marie asked when Dan and Sarah returned.  
  
"He denies that he hurt you and swore at us too!" Sarah exclaimed.  
  
"He said that Bruce hurt you, not him." Dan added.  
  
~Why do I get the feeling that they're confusing what I mean about hurting me? I wish I hadn't slapped him but it's too late now...~ Marie thought. "No he definitely hurt me." ~And in a way you'll never know.~ She added privately.  
  
"Do you want us to rough him up a bit?"  
  
"No there's no point on wasting our energy on a pathetic little creature like him. I'll deal with him myself later." The bell went and they stood in their line.  
  
It wasn't until they got into the classroom that she realised that yet again, Tails was skiving.  
  
~Why waste your energy on him Marie? He's obviously a troublemaker...~ She thought as she stared at his empty desk. But in truth she knew why she worried about him. ~I wish I could get to know him better but while he won't even go near me, that is never going to happen.~ She wondered what she could do and suddenly it came into her head. ~ I know, I'll talk to one of his friends! But which one? Sonic was the one who seemed the most worried so it should be him.~ With this in mind, she concentrated on the lesson and forgot about her troubles with Tails.  
  
This time, Tails remembered to get his bag and he did so once the bell had gone, checking that no teachers were nearby. He walked out onto the playground and saw Shadow. Knowing that things would be easier if he looked like everything was ok, he greeted Shadow cheerfully.  
  
"Hi Shadow, I didn't think you'd be here again."  
  
"Yes well I was bored stiff so I thought you wouldn't mind some company until the others come out." Shadow explained and they waited by the gate of Maples. Unknown to them though, Marie was also waiting but she kept out of the way.  
  
************************  
  
"A detention? I haven't had one since year nine." Sammie commented as they sat in History. The teacher hadn't bothered to turn up so they used this opportunity to talk.  
  
"What did you get one for then?" Rouge asked.  
  
"For being mouthy to our Japanese teacher. It seemed she said something rude without realising it." Emily explained.  
  
"And then I tried to explain that it was an accident, but she wasn't having any of it."  
  
"Actually, I'm surprised you didn't get suspended. After all, you did break his arm. He did deserve it though."  
  
"Suspended? Was it really that bad?" Knuckles asked worriedly.  
  
"You broke his arm, knocked him unconscious and possibly caused him permanent brain damage-" Emily started.  
  
"Hopefully you have." Sammie added.  
  
"So you did quite a lot and you only got a lunchtime detention? Sammie got an after school one just for saying a rude word."  
  
"Yes but he did attack Rouge so I suppose it made it slightly more acceptable." Sonic pointed out. Emily frowned when she saw Rouge and Knuckles exchange a look. "How long are lunchtime detentions usually?"  
  
"Fifty minutes."  
  
"Fifty minutes? When am I supposed to do my homework and eat lunch?" Knuckles demanded.  
  
"You eat lunch after it and homework is hopefully not going to infect us today. However if it does, we'll do it for you." Sammie said.  
  
"Yeah but won't the teacher realise I've copied yours?"  
  
"Not if we do it on a piece of paper. We'll take a small part of each of ours and put them together, changing the occasional word of course." Just then the teacher arrived, apologising for being late and they settled themselves down to a state of stupor.  
  
Lunchtime came around and Knuckles went to his detention while the others sat down to eat their lunch. They had managed to get some History homework but as they had the choice of doing one of three questions, they did an answer for question three and then they did either one or two. Once they were done, they decided to wait for Knuckles instead of going to find him.  
  
"So what do you actually do in detention?" Sonic asked.  
  
"I suppose we can tell you seeing as Knuckles isn't here, he probably would have been very angry." Emily said.  
  
"Basically you have to do an essay, usually about two hundred words. He probably would have had to do something like 'Why I shouldn't go around beating people up'." Sammie explained.  
  
"Yep, I can just imagine him coming out here, ready to rip Sean's head off when he comes back. Not that that would be a bad thing of course." Emily added.  
  
"Well we'll soon find out because here he comes." Sonic said, nodding his head towards Knuckles.  
  
"Three hundred and fifty words! Of all the cheek, the impertinence..." They heard him mutter angrily as he approached them.  
  
"Had a good time I take it..." Sammie said cheerfully and was met with a glare.  
  
"Three hundred and fifty words on why I shouldn't attack people!" He fumed and Sonic looked at Sammie in surprise.  
  
"Wow Sammie, you guessed correctly! How did you do that?"  
  
"You knew about this? Why didn't you tell me?" Knuckles shouted.  
  
"Calm down! Do you want to have to write another essay?" Sammie demanded. Knuckles thought about this and sat down.  
  
"I suppose you're right."  
  
"I didn't tell you because I knew you would react as you've just done." Sammie said.  
  
"That was a lot of words though. You only had to do two hundred after all." Emily pointed out.  
  
"Only two hundred? I had to write about why I should respect teachers and I was totally stumped."  
  
"I must admit, that sounds hard. It's over and done with now so it doesn't matter. As long as you don't try to kill anyone else..." Rouge commented. Knuckles had just started eating his lunch when the bell went.  
  
"Oh damn it!" Knuckles exclaimed as they stood up.  
  
"Just eat your lunch during form time. It doesn't matter as long as you don't make it obvious." Emily said and he put his stuff away so he could follow them back to the form room.  
  
The afternoon passed without much happening and they all sighed in relief when the bell went. They left the school and were met by Shadow and Tails.  
  
"Hi you two. Was school any better today?" Sonic asked Tails.  
  
"It was fine." Tails replied shortly and they started to make their way home. As they did so, Sonic felt someone grab his arm and saw Marie. She put her finger over her mouth and he slowed down.  
  
"Hello Sonic, I need to talk to you."  
  
"Why? Don't you think you've hurt Tails enough as it is?" He hissed.  
  
"But you don't understand, I did it for a reason. Please give me a chance to explain." Sonic pulled his arm out of her grip.  
  
"Just leave us alone ok? I won't let you hurt him again, he's my best friend." He walked away and Marie sighed in frustration.  
  
~This is going to be harder than I thought...~  
  
************************  
  
Sonic didn't tell the others about what Marie had said but he did wonder about it. ~She said she did it for a reason but what could that be? There's no excuse for hurting someone...~ He thought the next morning. Far from school being an opportunity to relax and take things easy, everyone found it hard what with the events of the last couple of days. And Wednesday didn't get any better either...  
  
Tails arrived at school to find Marie waiting for him in the classroom.  
  
"Tails, we need to talk." She said when she saw him.  
  
"No we don't. Your cronies made it quite clear yesterday what has happened and I'm glad at least someone has." He snapped.  
  
"But Tails I did it for a reason-"  
  
"There is never a reason to lie to someone just so you can make someone's life difficult."  
  
"But I think Sarah and Dan made a mistake when they talked to you yesterday."  
  
"Why, were they meant to beat me up as well? Just like you did?"  
  
"I've already told you I did it for a reason, weren't you listening?"  
  
"I'm sorry but I don't listen to snivelling, spineless creatures such as yourself." He spat and she ran out of the classroom, tears pouring down her face.  
  
He sat down at his desk but was surprised when he heard someone's voice.  
  
"You didn't have to say that you know." He looked around sharply and saw Hannah appear from behind the door.  
  
"Don't tell me you were told to listen so you can have a go at me when she'd gone?" Hannah looked slightly hurt and so he didn't do anything when she perched herself on the desk in front of him.  
  
"No, she doesn't know I was there. I'm concerned Tails about what's happened. Unlike the others, I couldn't believe Marie when she said that you had hurt her, not literally at least."  
  
"I'm glad someone does."  
  
"There's no need to be like that, I'm trying to help you know. I'm the only one who knows what she's really been through."  
  
"Do you go round and spy on everyone then?"  
  
"No, not everyone but if I think that something is wrong then I have to. I know you think I'm naïve but I act like that because I don't want the others to get suspicious."  
  
"What are you trying to say?  
  
"I think you need to know why she attacked you. As you may know, she has two tails and she's been teased a lot because of it. The only reason she's left alone now is because she made a deal with Bruce, the main bully. She would become one of them in return for being left alone."  
  
"So what are you saying?" Tails asked, confused by what he had heard.  
  
"He controls who she beats up and he's chosen you as her next victim. That's why she's been telling you that she did it for a reason, because she has no choice." Hannah looked at Tails with hope but he shook his head.  
  
"That may be so but she should be fighting him, not doing as he says."  
  
"She's been too afraid to do so. She doesn't want things to be the way they are and none of us are meant to know about it. Maybe if you made up with her then you could stop him together."  
  
"I'm sorry Hannah but if she's not willing to tell you the truth then why is she going to tell me? Until she's ready to apologise to me then nothing is going to change." He crossed his arms and Hannah sighed.  
  
"Ok, I accept your reasons because I feel the same way. But if you won't talk to her then I fear you might get a visit at lunchtime."  
  
"I don't care about them, they should know their friend well enough by now to work out what's going on." The bell went then and Hannah sat at her place, sighing softly to herself.  
  
************************  
  
The group sat at their table and just before the bell went, Gillian came over to their table and dropped a piece of paper on Knuckles' desk. He held it in his hand and was going to chuck it away but Sammie stopped him.  
  
"Come on Knuckles, it might have something funny written on it." He opened it up and read what was written.  
  
Are you still strong and silent? If so, I might have a piquant offer for you. Gillian xxx.  
  
His eyes widened and he screwed it up. He could feel himself blushing and Rouge knew that meant the message was provocative.  
  
"What did it say?" Sammie asked.  
  
"Nothing I wanted to know." He muttered and Rouge took the note from his hand. She read it and clenched her fist in anger.  
  
"How dare she? Right, we'll see about this." She went to stand up but Knuckles grabbed her arm. He shook his head and she sighed. Sammie shared the note between her, Emily and Sonic. While Sonic looked shocked, Emily and Sammie shrugged their shoulders.  
  
"What's so bad about that? If you say yes then we might be able to get into the top of the class hierarchy. Then we can take them down, they'll never suspect!" Sammie saw his face and she frowned.  
  
"Is there something really bad about that? Do you have an allergy to foxes?" Emily asked.  
  
"I can't say yes because... What was the phrase you said Sammie? I'm already booked." Knuckles admitted.  
  
"Oh I see but I'm sure she won't mind!" Emily elbowed Sammie.  
  
"Don't you see what he's saying? He's going out with Rouge!" A look of realisation appeared on Sammie's face.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise! Why didn't you say anything before? I might have not embarrassed myself then."  
  
"Because we thought it would be less hassle." Rouge said, holding her head in her hands.  
  
"Right, we get the point that that isn't a option but we could do something else instead." Emily suggested. The others looked at her and she continued speaking. "Knuckles could agree to meet her and when they're together, we'll spring up on them and beat her up."  
  
"But I can't do that, she's a girl!" Sonic said.  
  
"You don't of course. You can keep a look out for teachers. We won't necessarily beat her up, just show her what happens when she thinks she can have whoever she likes." Emily explained.  
  
"I can't agree to this! I won't do it!" Knuckles exclaimed.  
  
"Oh come on Knuckles, Sean attacked Rouge yesterday and I'm sure she's in on what's happening. Just think of it as revenge for what he did." Sammie pleaded. He looked from one face to the other and stared at Rouge. The memory of yesterday ran through their heads and she nodded her head slightly. "Ok but I'm not happy about this." No one knew what to say about this when Sonic had one of his rare attacks of wisdom.  
  
"None of us are. We have to do something or Sean will get away with it. If you're really uncomfortable about this then we can't force you to do it but I think all of us are fed up with them two."  
  
"Maybe you're right but I'm just uncomfortable with the thought of her trying to kiss me while Rouge is watching."  
  
"Hey, we won't let it get to that point. Any sign of her trying to shove her tongue down your throat will result in her being hurt." Emily reassured.  
  
"Ok but what do we do now?"  
  
"You reply to the message of course. Keep it short and sweet, I think she expects that of you." Sammie said, pulling a face. Knuckles got out a pen and wrote 'I accept' on the back.  
  
He gave the note to her at break time and just before lunch; he got another note telling him to meet her in the paddock.  
  
"Are you sure you're ok about this Rouge?" He whispered and she nodded her head, although her eyes narrowed slightly. He made his way to the paddock and they followed him, making sure they weren't seen. They hid around the corner and waited for Gillian to appear. Sammie saw Rouge looking nervous and confused and she hugged her.  
  
"Don't worry, he can deal with it." She whispered and Rouge smiled. They turned back and saw that Gillian had now arrived.  
  
"I see you didn't change your mind. I hope you can cope with your emotions." She whispered but he didn't say anything.  
  
~I suppose I'll have to make an effort...~ He thought and he smiled cheekily at her. "I can but are you quite so sure yourself?" In reply she pushed him against the wall and kissed him softly. He panicked and shoved her away.  
  
"What's wrong?" She asked sharply.  
  
"Aren't you in a bit of a rush? We don't even know each other yet."  
  
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were the sort of the person who needs to love someone before you can do anything with them. I only ever do this for the physical pleasure it brings." He frowned and she studied him. "But maybe I could make an exception with you." She leant against him and stroked the back of his neck. He couldn't help trembling slightly and she smiled. This time, he didn't protest when she kissed him and he even responded.  
  
Watching Rouge seeing this had made Sammie feel guilty and so when they started kissing, Sammie jumped out.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" She shouted and Gillian stopped to look at her.  
  
"Oh hello freak, do you always sit there watching other people?" She asked. Sammie was lost for a moment and Rouge took this opportunity to storm over and slap her hard around the face.  
  
"Leave my boyfriend alone, you slut!" She screamed. Gillian gasped and then smiled.  
  
"So it has been confirmed at last! You two are going out! I knew if I did something like this then I'd get a reaction. I didn't expect you to have to cheek to slap me though, you jealous cow!" She went to hit her but Rouge grabbed her hair and twisted her head round.  
  
"I just thought I'd let you know that there's a new girl in town and she's not to be messed with. The dog may have got me but I'm not going to let you do the same to Knuckles!" She hissed in her ear.  
  
"Oh please, did you really think I'd go that far? Sean only did it because he's gagging for it and he weren't getting any from me! I knew a kiss would be sufficient." She whispered and caught Rouge off balance by hooking her foot around her leg. Knuckles backed away and stood by Sonic, who was making sure that no teachers came along.  
  
"Those two are at each other's throats literally!" Sonic commented but Knuckles didn't reply.  
  
Meanwhile Rouge and Gillian were still fighting, now resorting to scratching and kicking. The others were starting to think that it would never end when Sonic suddenly shouted out,  
  
"Quick, a teacher's coming!" Rouge had Gillian pinned down and when she heard this, she tightened her grip on Gillian.  
  
"You say one word to anyone about this and you'll regret it." She threatened and then got up like nothing had happened. They walked away quickly and Gillian was left to hide until the teacher had gone.  
  
************************  
  
Tails didn't get beaten up at lunchtime but it wasn't much better than before. Now Marie would walk away from him if he was less than ten metres away from her and everyone, not just her friends, were giving him evil stares. He was considering another afternoon in the tree when he saw Miss Petrie walking over to him.  
  
"Tails could you come with me please? I can't have you missing another afternoon." She said and he followed her reluctantly. She entered an office and Tails saw Shadow sitting at the desk.  
  
"Hi Tails, Miss Petrie phoned and told us about you skiving off in the afternoon. Do you want to talk?" He asked and Tails shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"I'll leave you two alone ok?" Miss Petrie suggested before leaving the room and closing the door. Tails sat down on the chair near Shadow's and stared at Shadow, daring him to say anything else.  
  
"Don't look at me like that. It was lucky I was the one who picked up the phone and not Eggman. I don't expect you to tell me anything, I just thought you looked like you couldn't handle anymore time here."  
  
"Too true, I think I might go on some travels and totally forget about school."  
  
"But what about Sonic?"  
  
"I'll be all right on my own. I've never needed anyone before and I don't need them now."  
  
"But what about Marie?" He asked sharply and Tails frowned.  
  
"What about her?"  
  
"I know there's something going on with you two and you may try to pretend nothing's happened but I won't believe you."  
  
"There's nothing going on between us!" Shadow didn't say anything though and just gazed at him. "Oh all right, something's happened but it's not a good thing..." And he proceeded to explain everything that had happened. And unlike Rouge and Sonic, he told Shadow everything, including how he felt about Marie. When he finished he sighed and looked at Shadow, who sat there in silence.  
  
"That's quite a lot for three days. Maybe you shouldn't do anything about it for a couple of weeks and maybe you should talk to her now. I can't make any decisions for you and I'm certainly not going to give you any advice."  
  
"It makes a change from everyone else. But maybe you're right... Maybe I should leave it for now." The bell went and Shadow smiled.  
  
"So we did miss a whole afternoon!" He said and they walked out of the room. "I'll talk to your teacher and make up some sort of story but you'll probably have to go to all of your lessons from now on." Tails nodded his head and they strolled over to Maples High School.  
  
It seemed from Sonic's explanation that after the fight not much had happened although Rouge did now have a black eye. She hadn't said anything to Knuckles though and everyone was worried he added quietly when him plus Tails and Shadow were talking alone. They had been walking quite slowly and soon the others had disappeared. As they walked though, they heard footsteps behind them and Sonic turned around. The others stopped and they saw Marie standing in front of them.  
  
"What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear this morning that I'm not listening?" Tails said and she glared at him.  
  
"Who ever said I wanted to talk to you? I wanted a word with Shadow actually." She said coldly and Tails turned away. Sonic did the same but Shadow stood where he was.  
  
"What did you want?"  
  
"I want you to explain to Tails why I did what I did." She replied and he started to walk again.  
  
"Why can't you do it yourself? And I'm surprised you actually had the guts to hit him." Shadow said neutrally and quickened his pace slightly.  
  
"Oh so you're going to do exactly what Sonic did? What a big surprise! Tails has obviously told you what happened and if he did, you'll know why I can't talk to him."  
  
"I know, he won't let you." Shadow said looking at her. "But you have to understand that your attack was completely unexpected and according to him, unprovoked. He won't listen to me, he won't listen to anyone. I'm afraid you're on your own here." She stopped walking but he continued to, not even looking back at her.  
  
~On my own? I haven't been on my own for a long time, not since I made that deal with Bruce... I used to be happy then.~ She thought, as she stood on the path alone, the leaves blowing around her feet.  
************************  
  
For once, nothing happened and that can only be a good thing for us. Maybe it's just us but Thursday's never bring anything because they're too close to Friday, the end of the school week. And as well as being the end of the week, it's also the climax for the current events but definitely not the end.  
  
************************  
  
The most notable thing for Knuckles, Rouge and Sonic is that Sean came back to school.  
  
"I was hoping that we could at least have today without him but never mind, we'll just have to survive." Sammie commented when she saw the looks on their faces.  
  
"Do you think it's possible?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Probably not." Was all she would say, which killed the conversation just a little. When Sean came over though, they all woke up slightly.  
  
"I'm surprised you have the nerve to come over here after what's happened." Emily said as she stared at him.  
  
"And that is what I want to talk about. I'm surprised you can all look like that after what you've done to me and Gillian."  
  
"And you deserved it!" Sammie shouted.  
  
"You keep your mouth shut unless you want us to rat you out." He hissed.  
  
"You wouldn't dare..."  
  
"Oh yes I would unless of course we can make a deal."  
  
"Oh no, we are not available for deals of any sort." Sonic said seriously.  
  
"Then we'll just have to tell them what happened with Gillian. I'm sure you don't mind being expelled do you Rouge?" He turned to her and the glint in his eye caused her to look away. "I thought not. Here are the conditions. In return for us not grassing on you, you have to do whatever we say especially you two." He looked at Knuckles and Rouge pointedly.  
  
"And we cannot accept those terms. I don't care about everyone finding out about what I did to her, she deserved it." Rouge spat. He sat down next to her and gripped her arm.  
  
"So it's going to be like that then is it? Then we'll just have to enforce our conditions as well as tell everyone your little secret." He stood up and faced the class. "I have an announcement to make everyone. It seems that our new friends here have something they want everyone to know. Our dear friends-" He stopped when he felt Rouge pull at his arm.  
  
"Wait!" He looked at her and smiled. "Ok we accept your conditions."  
  
"No Rouge! I don't know about you but I don't care if they all know about us." Knuckles whispered and she sighed.  
  
"We are going to leave now so that we won't be here when you tell everyone about us." They stood up and left the classroom, leaving behind a group of very confused people.  
  
"I would have preferred it if they had stayed because then I could have seen their reaction then. Class, Rouge and Knuckles are in love and going out." He announced and he was met with blank faces.  
  
"So? We don't care to be honest." He heard someone say and turned sharply to them.  
  
"That may not matter to you but you may be interested to know that they have attacked both me and Gillian, totally unprovoked." Sonic stood up and faced him.  
  
"That's a lie and you know it! That slut was trying to make a move on Knuckles!" He shouted and Sean stared at him.  
  
"Tut, tut. Shouting never solved anything but I doubt you have the intelligence to realise that."  
  
"But they still attacked the both of you?" Someone asked.  
  
"Yes they did and I say that we take them down before they can do anything else." The class started to whisper and Sean smiled at the thought of everyone being against them two but he never bothered to listen to what they were saying.  
  
"At last, someone's taking them down!"  
  
"They'll probably need our support."  
  
"But why would they? When Gillian and Sean have gone then they'll just take over."  
  
"But they've got Sammie and Emily. Can you remember when they actually used to be friends with Gillian? Well they refused to boss people around when they became popular."  
  
"I remember now! As long as those two are there to stop them getting big headed, everything will be fine."  
  
"Yeah but what can we do?"  
  
"We'll protest together! They can't be the top of the class hierarchy when there isn't one!"  
  
"No class hierarchy? Do you think that's possible?"  
  
"Of course it is! Other classes have done it and so can we!" They turned to Sean with smiles on their faces.  
  
"We'll do whatever you say." But they looked at Sonic, Sammie and Emily as they said this.  
  
"You're not going to support him are you? I thought you all wanted to be free from the oppression of the hierarchy! But I can now see that you're willing to follow people who assault others!" Sonic shouted. The class exchanged puzzled looks and Sonic continued, not realising what he was saying. "That's right! He assaulted Rouge and then when Knuckles tried to stop him, he got a detention and was nearly expelled!" He stared at them but they didn't so anything. "Oh what's the point? You're not worth fighting for!" He grabbed his bag and walked out of the classroom, Sammie and Emily following.  
  
"Did you hear that? You're not worth fighting for! But I think you are. For the class hierarchy and the sustainability of our class as a whole, we must fight now." Sean shouted and everyone cheered.  
  
"He must be really stupid if he believes in that!" A girl whispered and her friends laughed.  
  
************************  
  
Tails, I think it's time for me to tell you the truth. But first of all, I want to make sure you want to hear it and for that I'll have to apologise. I'm sorry I hurt you and if you would just give me the chance, I could explain.  
  
Tails read the note and screwed it up but opened it again after a few moments.  
  
~Come on Tails, you can't hate her forever...~ He picked up his pen and paused for a moment, trying to think of a reply.  
  
I need to think about this, I'm not sure I can forgive you. Give me time and I'll tell you what I've decided...  
  
He passed the note over and she read it, her face not changing. She put the note away and he continued to write.  
  
~He's not sure if he can forgive me? I never realised how much it had affected him, they're heavy words to use. I'll give it a week and if he hasn't said anything, I'll know I haven't got a hope in hell.~ She thought before turning back to her work.  
  
************************  
  
The group remained quiet during English and not much had been said when they saw a note flick onto their table. Although it was addressed to Knuckles, he didn't open it so sighing, Sammie took it and opened it instead.  
  
I hope you read this Sammie or Emily. I knew that if I addressed it to Knuckles, he might not read it and Sean would get suspicious if I put your name on the front. When we said we'd do whatever you say we meant you, you ninnies! We are fed up with them two bossing us around and we want to help you take them down. We're willing to do whatever's necessary but we're not sure how to start. Do you have any ideas? Suzie.  
  
Sammie smiled and looked at Suzie, a rabbit with dark brown fur. She didn't say anything though as she replied.  
  
Hi Suzie, we haven't spoken in a long time, not since year 8 or 9 I think. How's Dan doing? I know you meant us when you said you'd do whatever we said but Sonic obviously didn't. I'm sorry about him, but we couldn't stop him, he gets angry quite easily it seems. We could call a meeting at lunch if you want, not everyone, just a few people. I don't know what Knuckles or Rouge think, they're a bit shaken from this morning. They were hoping for no hassle. (Sammie)  
  
And they can still believe that they won't get any hassle. None of us care about the fact that they're going out; we think it's quite sweet actually. Although the boys weren't quite so happy, I think they were hoping that they'd have a chance with her but now they know she's already taken... A meeting sounds like a good idea, we would all go. Dan is doing well; he's still annoying though. (Suzie)  
  
Aw, you can't say that about him. I think that the boys will be disappointed for a long time. I don't know why but I get the feeling that they actually love each other, and they're not together just for the sake of it. I haven't discussed this with the others but we can have a meeting in the form room, Gillian and Sean aren't there usually are they? It's been a long time since I've been in there at lunch. (Sammie)  
  
Well I hope everything goes ok for them. The form room's fine, they don't go in there. Too busy trying to make other people's lives a misery I suppose. We eat lunch in there too so we can start at the beginning, that is if you don't mind eating in there. I remember how you felt about that subject. (Suzie)  
  
Hey, I don't care to be honest. We're in year 11 and I want to break some rules. And if Emily doesn't agree then I'll have to tie her up! (Sammie)  
  
Ok, lunchtime it is then. We'd better stop writing to each other now because Sean's looking at me weirdly. It was nice to talk again though; life's been very different without your cynical thoughts and Emily's funny stories. (Sammie)  
  
Sammie smiled and put the note in her pencil case, ignoring the fact that everyone was staring at her. A few minutes passed when Emily nudged her.  
  
"What did the note say on it?" She whispered. Sammie passed it over and she read it quickly. "Wow, I never realised that people actually liked us."  
  
"Well it seems that we do and we have a duty to keep up their beliefs I suppose."  
  
"When are we going to tell the others about the meeting?"  
  
"Don't you mean when are you going to tell them? Have you seen the way them lot are looking at the rest of the class? I think they've lost the little faith they have in them. They haven't known them as long as we have and if we gave the note to them, they'd just ask why they haven't done anything before." Sammie explained.  
  
"I see what you mean. I don't think they realise what it's been like to be under them. Maybe we should tell them." But Sammie shook her head.  
  
"I'm not telling them my life story, just so they can feel sorry for us. We don't have to tell them anything, if they're not going to help then fine. We can do this ourselves, I don't care about breaking the rules anymore." She returned to her work, to show that the conversation was over.  
  
The lesson finished and they went to break. As they walked back to the form room, they told the others about the note.  
  
"So it wasn't really addressed to Knuckles?" Sonic asked and Sammie nodded her head. "But what I don't understand is why you haven't tried to stop them before." Sammie exchanged a look with Emily.  
  
"I told you they would say that." Rouge turned to Sammie.  
  
"What do you mean? So now you're the kind of person who thinks they can judge someone's character?"  
  
"Only when it's obvious. None of you can say that we should have tried before. We haven't tried because we've never had the drive to." Sammie explained coldly.  
  
"Look, it doesn't matter about the past because it's now that is important. You don't have to go to the meeting, we'll be quite all right by ourselves." Emily added and they walked away from them.  
  
************************  
  
Tails sat by himself at lunchtime when he saw Hannah and Peter walk towards him. They sat down beside him and he smiled at them.  
  
"Hello you two, have you been given permission to talk to me?" They exchanged uneasy looks.  
  
"Not exactly. I decided to tell Peter about what happened when I saw Marie pass the note to you." Hannah said.  
  
"And?"  
  
"Well, I was doubtful about Marie's story in the first place and when Hannah talked to me, it made everything clear."  
  
"Yeah but how does you talking to me help?"  
  
"We want to know what was on that note. Is there any chance of her talking to you?" Hannah asked.  
  
"That's what the note was about. She wants to tell me about it but I told her I need to think about it."  
  
"But why? Don't you want to help her?"  
  
"I don't know, I'm not sure if she's worth it." He snapped and stood up. "Why am I talking to you anyway? Shouldn't you be talking to Sarah and Dan? After all you're her friends, not me." He stalked away but stopped when he heard Sarah's voice.  
  
"What do you two think you're doing, talking to him? Didn't Marie bother to tell why we're not talking to him?"  
  
"I'm sorry, but we forgot." Hannah said quietly.  
  
"You forgot? Don't you realise what he's done to her?" Tails turned around and saw Peter and Hannah cowering against each other. Angry, he stormed over and stood in front of them.  
  
"How dare you shout at them!"  
  
"You keep out of this, Tails! I'm surprised you have the cheek to show your face!" Dan yelled.  
  
"And I'm surprised you can afford to be so narrow minded! If only you knew the truth-" Tails stopped when he saw Marie walking up to the group.  
  
"What's going on?" She asked. Sarah pointed to Tails, giving him an evil glare.  
  
"He's trying to influence Hannah and Peter! We saw him talking to them!"  
  
"I'm not influencing anyone but I'm not sure I can say the same for some of you." He stared at Marie and she looked away.  
  
"Look you guys, let's just go ok?" She asked quietly and Tails laughed.  
  
"That's it, run away from what's happening. You should be used to it by now, you've done it enough times." He turned to go away but she grabbed his arm.  
  
"A little less of the mouth, if you don't mind." She said coldly.  
  
"Why, you afraid they might hear something they shouldn't? Don't you think they've been waiting for long enough?" He pulled his arm out of her grip and walked off.  
  
"That's it, this means war." Dan muttered.  
  
"Dan, can't we just forget about this? He's not sorry for what's happened so what's the point in continuing?"  
  
"Oh we haven't finished yet, no where near finishing."  
  
************************  
  
"It's obvious they don't want us there so we may as well not go." Sonic commented as him plus Knuckles and Rouge were talking during the forth lesson.  
  
"Sonic, they were just angry, that's all. And I'm not surprised to be honest. We don't really understand what's going on and maybe if we go, then we might." Rouge pointed out.  
  
"But will they let us? I mean, they haven't said anything to us at all, they won't even look at us." Knuckles said.  
  
"Of course they will. We'll just have to see what happens." Rouge reassured and they returned back to their work.  
  
When the bell went for lunch, they waited for Emily and Sammie but they walked straight past, ignoring them.  
  
"That's it, I'm not going!" Sonic announced, crossing his arms.  
  
"Oh yes you are. We've got to show them that we're sorry and this might be the only way." Rouge grabbed one of his arms and tried to drag him up the corridor. He wouldn't budge though and Rouge sighed. "I think we're going to have to resort to torture." She pinched his waist hard and surprised by the move, he jumped. Rouge took this opportunity to push him along the corridor and Knuckles followed, grinning.  
  
They entered the classroom and stood by the door unsure of what to do. It appeared that no one was in the room and seeing this, Sonic walked in.  
  
"Great, so now they've moved themselves! Wait 'til I see Sammie, I'll-"  
  
"You'll what? Give me a mouthful of your 'wit'?" Sammie asked, standing up and crossing her arms.  
  
"We're sorry about him, maybe it would have been better if we hadn't brought him along." Rouge said, pushing her way past Sonic. "Look, we're sorry for what happened earlier and we want to help. I don't want him to have another chance to attack someone-"  
  
"You mean you. You're so popular, you must wonder what he sees in bothering with us." Sammie cut in. Emily stood up beside her and dragged her down to the ground.  
  
"Shut up Sammie will you before you launch a war? I'm sorry about her, it seems we both have people who maybe shouldn't be here." She smiled and they walked over to her.  
  
They now saw where everyone was. They were sitting on the floor, and the tables had hid them. Sammie glared at them but Emily plus some others made room for the three of them. They sat down hesitantly but became relaxed when they saw everyone smiling.  
  
"Luckily you haven't missed much yet. We were just catching up on old times, we haven't spoken to some people for a couple of years now." Emily explained.  
  
"Why? I mean you see each other everyday." Rouge asked.  
  
"Well when we were in year eight, Sammie and Emily used to be friends with Gillian and Sean. They were popular enough but when Sean and Gillian started bossing people around, they refused to stay friends or talk to anyone because we didn't fight against them." Suzie explained.  
  
"I've just suddenly realised that you don't know who anyone is. This is Suzie, and the others are Kelly, Dave, Rob, Shane, Fran, Oliver and Rich." Emily said quickly.  
  
"Hi everyone, I suppose you know who we are. Why didn't you tell any of this to us before?"  
  
"Because we thought it would be less hassle." Sammie muttered looking pointedly at Rouge, reminding her of her earlier words.  
  
"Ok so we all had things we haven't told each other but now that that's out of the way, what are we going to do?" Sonic asked.  
  
"We would like to know, if it's ok with you what actually happened between you and Sean and Gillian." Fran said quietly. Knuckles and Rouge looked uneasily at each other before she started to tell them what happened with her. She didn't go into much detail but that didn't stop her from having to wipe some tears away from her eyes. She leant against Knuckles and he put his arms around her. Emily started talking, knowing that they didn't appreciate everyone staring at them, not knowing what to do.  
  
"Right so after that happened, we had a couple of days of freedom before Gillian decided to rear her ugly head." She then proceeded to tell them what had happened with her and Knuckles. She kept it short and sweet and once she had finished, she left everyone to think for a few minutes.  
  
Sammie hadn't been listening much during Emily's speech and now stood up, bored. She wandered over to one of the windows and leaned against it, staring out. Emily did the same and turned to her.  
  
"What are you thinking?" She whispered.  
  
"I don't know, not much really." She paused and then turned to Emily. "I wish none of this was happening. We should have sorted this out a long time ago, we shouldn't have abandoned them. If we hadn't refused to talk to everyone then, I wouldn't feel so guilty."  
  
"Hey, what we did is in the past. We needed them to realise what was going on remember?" Sammie nodded her head. "They do now so we just have to help them."  
  
"I don't understand why we have to help though..." Sammie complained.  
  
"Because let's be honest...they're weak minded. They haven't been through what we've been through..." Emily said very quietly.  
  
"So what are we going to do then?" Oliver asked. Emily and Sammie walked back over to the group and sat down.  
  
"We have to abandon the theory of the class hierarchy. It should never have started in the first place anyway." Sammie said.  
  
"But how?" Dave persisted.  
  
"We could smash their heads in and then dump them in a river." Sammie suggested.  
  
"Or maybe not... Just do what they do. Interrupt them when they're talking-" Emily started.  
  
"Are you sure we can't just beat them up?" Sammie asked.  
  
"No we can't! Just pretend there isn't a hierarchy, if they tell you to do something, refuse. If they try to talk over you, just talk louder." Emily said.  
  
"It's not that hard guys..." Sammie pleaded.  
  
"What about everyone else? After all, they don't know about this." Kelly pointed out.  
  
"Yeah, we didn't get a chance to tell them." Shane added.  
  
"I think a lot of them knew something was going to happen this lunchtime. Most of them are in before Sean and Gillian anyway so we can tell them then." Dave commented.  
  
"Right so everyone knows what's going on then. Any questions or comments?" Emily asked the group.  
  
"Very efficient aren't you?" Rob joked.  
  
"We had to wrap this thing properly. After all, this is an important event worthy of being put into the history books." Sammie said extravagantly.  
  
"Yeah just imagine us motley lot in a history text book in fifty years time..." Rich said, laughing.  
  
"Well I don't know about you but I'm eating my lunch." Sammie stated.  
  
"Four years have gone past and you're still obsessed with your food." Suzie said. "Things haven't changed much have they?"  
  
"No, they haven't..."  
  
They spent the rest of lunchtime talking about things they had done in the past and although Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge didn't say much, everyone else was obviously happy. Gradually other people started trickling in and as they did, they were told about the plan. Everyone seemed prepared to follow it and the group sat down at their table, discussing what they were going to do at the weekend.  
  
"So then, are we still doing this shopping thing tomorrow?" Emily asked.  
  
"I don't see why we can't, that is if you're not doing anything tomorrow..." Rouge replied.  
  
"Probably not, we never really go anywhere at the weekends." Sammie said gloomily, the thought of shopping depressing her.  
  
"Well then, that's sorted. What are you two going to do?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Eat, sleep, and do not a lot in general." Sonic stated happily.  
  
"Typical..." Knuckles muttered. "I don't know what I'm doing, not a lot is my current thinking though."  
  
"Why don't you-" But Sammie stopped when Emily elbowed her. The whole room had gone silent and their attention was turned to Suzie and Gillian.  
  
"What do you mean, 'no'?" Gillian demanded.  
  
"I'm not listening to you anymore." Suzie said, staring at her. Gillian stood up and Suzie instinctively backed away. She lashed out and pulled Suzie's head back by her hair.  
  
"Are you sure? Even if I did this?" Gillian yanked her head back further and Suzie cried out in pain.  
  
"Let go of her." Sammie had stood up and was now facing Suzie and Gillian. Gillian smiled and let Suzie go, who sat down quickly.  
  
"You think you can beat me?"  
  
"I could beat you a hundred times." Sammie said coldly.  
  
Gillian stepped forward and swung her arm toward her, but Sammie caught it. She spun her around and gripping her other arm, she twisted it up her back. This caused Gillian to hiss and struggle against her grip.  
  
"You do anything to me and you get expelled." Gillian taunted.  
  
"I don't care." Sammie retorted sincerely. "I would be happy to do to you what Knuckles did to Sean."  
  
"Knuckles? Pah!" Gillian laughed. "He's weak..."  
  
"Weak enough to do this?" She pulled Gillian's arm tighter and tighter but stopped when she screamed in pain. Sammie looked at Emily, who smiled grimly and nodded slightly. She turned back to Gillian. "Did you feel that?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well, unless you want to feel that again you are going to end this class hierarchy business OK?" Gillian nodded her head. "And Sean too. If anyone tries any funny stuff, they are going to regret it." She let go and Gillian ran out of the room.  
  
Everyone stared at Sammie in silence as she walked back to the table. She didn't sit down but looked at Emily expectantly.  
  
"You should..." Emily said and nodding her head, Sammie left the room too. It was just at this point that Miss Dink entered the room. She didn't say anything though until the register had been taken. When it had, she looked around at the silent classroom.  
  
"Something big happened this lunchtime, didn't it?" She asked kindly.  
  
"Yeah, you could say that miss." Rob replied loudly.  
  
"And I'm guessing it has something to do with the levels of popularity here?"  
  
"The class hierarchy you mean."  
  
"Yes, that... Is that over at last?"  
  
"We hope so. Sammie made it clear she wanted it to be at least." Miss Dink thought for a moment.  
  
"I'm glad she has but I won't enquire into how, I don't think I want to know. I assume what happened is related to why she and Gillian are now gone for the moment."  
  
"Yes miss, it is." Now that the whole event had been cleared with the teacher, everyone fell to talking, now much happier than before.  
  
"Do you know what happened to Gillian to make her yell like that?" Sonic asked the others.  
  
"No, no idea. Whatever it was though, it certainly did the trick." Emily commented.  
  
"Yes, it did... But what about Sammie? Why did she leave the classroom?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Yeah and about when you two were talking..." Knuckles added.  
  
"Oh, that... Sammie and me just have this way of being able to understand one another; it's a bit hard to explain. As for Sammie, she's gone to talk to Gillian."  
  
"But why would she do that?" Sonic wondered.  
  
"Because it might not be Gillian's fault that she did what she did." Emily replied, shrugging her shoulders.  
  
Just then, Sammie and Gillian entered the room. They were talking to each other cheerfully but Gillian stopped, looking nervously at the four of them at the table. Sammie said something to her before dragging her towards the table. She sat down beside Emily but Gillian looked like she was going back to her table.  
  
"Come on Gillian, you're going to have to talk some time." Sammie said gently. Looking at Rouge, Gillian sat down beside her.  
  
"Um, Rouge..." She started but Rouge waved her apology aside.  
  
"It might have been better if you hadn't done it but Knuckles played his part too." She whispered, glancing at him. "And I encouraged him..." She added.  
  
"But I thought you and Knuckles-" Rouge read what she was going to say.  
  
"Yes but things are a bit rocky recently. It'll be fine..." She said, mainly to reassure herself.  
  
"I wanted to say sorry anyway. I realise I haven't made things very easy for everyone..."  
  
"Understatement. But at least it's over now." Sammie commented, smiling.  
  
"Yeah, it is..."  
  
************************  
  
School finished and as usual, Shadow was waiting for Tails. They made idle chit chat while they waited for the others to come out of school. Sonic, Rouge, Knuckles, Emily and Sammie eventually walked out, not saying much to each other. They met up and started walking home, the feeling of the upcoming weekend finally waking them up.  
  
"Well our first week of school is over at last..." Sonic commented.  
  
"And we survived!" Tails added cheerfully. "Well, there were a few incidents..." He said, looking sideways at Knuckles and Rouge.  
  
"Just a few! School has never been so interesting..." Emily said. They walked round the corner, only to be faced by Dan and Sarah.  
  
"Oh hi you two, haven't seen you in a while..." Sammie said happily but her smile disappeared when Dan stepped forward and punched Tails in the face. He reeled away from the hit, falling to the floor.  
  
"You leave him alone!" Sonic yelled and he manoeuvred himself between Dan and Tails.  
  
"Don't worry Sonic, I can handle him..." Tails said angrily.  
  
"No Tails! We need to clear this up right now!" He stared at Dan and was about to say something else when three people came running up to them. It was Marie, Peter and Hannah.  
  
"Dan, Sarah! What are you doing here?" Marie demanded as she looked round. It was just then that she saw Tails. "What have you done to him?"  
  
"We're giving him a little payback..." Sarah said sinisterly. Marie turned to her.  
  
"You two can be so stupid! Don't you understand that Tails has been right about me all along?" She paused and everyone looked at her in silence. "I have been running away from what's happening! But not anymore... It's time I told you the truth about what really occurred. Peter and Hannah already know, they have a bit more sense than you."  
  
"What do you mean?" Dan asked.  
  
"I hit Tails not the other way round! Look, it's a bit hard to explain..." She took a deep breath and told everyone about what really happened and why she had done it.  
  
The others stayed where they were, Dan and Sarah trying to sort things out in their minds.  
  
"So you see, Tails was right all along..." She finished and walked away. Peter and Hannah looked at each other before walking back to their homes. Tails stood up and faced Sarah and Dan.  
  
"Happy now?" He stormed off down the road, the others watching him leave. Feeling lost, Dan and Sarah also went back to their homes.  
  
"Well, that was pretty eventful..." Sonic said thoughtfully.  
  
"This will make Monday even more interesting. Are we still on for Saturday?" Emily asked.  
  
"I don't see why not..." Rouge replied.  
  
"We'll see you at ten outside the apartment block then..." Sammie said as she and Emily waved to them before walking home.  
  
Shadow, Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge eventually got back to the apartment and found Tails sitting at the table while Eggman applied an icepack to his cheek. Tails held it on and sat in the living room, as the others put their stuff away.  
  
"Tails, why didn't you tell me about this before?" Eggman asked as he sat across him. "Does this have anything to do with the phone call Shadow got from your school?"  
  
"Yes, it does I suppose. I didn't tell you because I didn't think this would happen." Tails hissed in pain from the bruise on his face.  
  
"Yes, even I wouldn't think them capable of it. Are you sure you're going to be ok?" Tails nodded his head slightly.  
  
"I'll talk to them on Monday. It wasn't really their fault though; they didn't know what had happened to Marie. But now they know so..." Tails shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"As long as you're sure. Well this week has certainly had its events, Knuckles getting a detention, Rouge being attacked as well as you... Sonic has been lucky."  
  
"I'm sure something will happen to him. After all, he's got a whole year." It was at this point that the others sat down with him.  
  
"How long will he have an icepack stuck to his face?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Just for the rest of today. As long as he doesn't lie on it or bruise it any more then it will heal slowly." Eggman stood up and went to the kitchen to get dinner started.  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
S. Chensu: Lots of bitchiness this episode! It's all gone a bit fast hasn't it?  
  
Luff: Anyway, in case you were wondering about the current status of this story, episodes 14 and 15 have still not been written but hopefully 14 will be done this weekend as there has been a small lull in the homework.  
  
S. Chensu: Yay! Things have been bad for me this week. Not only have I had an end of unit test in biology, I had to give in my English Literature coursework on 'Richard III'.  
  
Luff: Next episode will see the problems between Tails and Marie finally being sorted out... 


	13. A result in events

S. Chensu: -_-  
  
Luff: What's wrong?  
  
S. Chensu: Despite the fact that lots of exciting things happened last episode, only one person reviewed! Anyway, thank you RichaCo for reviewing and I hope the rest of you get your act together!  
  
Luff: Don't be so stressed, it's just a story. Even if you didn't review, I hope you liked that last chapter.  
  
S. Chensu: This is probably the last episode of 'introduction' so to speak before the real action begins so from the next episode onwards, things get a lot more complicated.  
  
Luff: In other words, enjoy the simplicities of girl problems while you still can.  
  
S. Chensu: We don't own any of this (as per usual). The only things we own are the story and the characters Sammie, Emily, Dan, Sarah, Hannah, Peter and of course Marie.  
  
Luff: Talking of her, this episode is mainly about her and Tails.  
  
S. Chensu: Let's go!  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Episode thirteen: A result in events  
  
It was a busy Saturday morning in the shopping centre of Bickley and Rouge, Sammie plus Emily were going from place to place, in the quest of their makeovers. At the moment, they were struggling with their bags while Rouge and Sammie argued amongst themselves.  
  
"Come on Sammie, you can't be serious! You need new shoes, you can't wear the ones you've got with that skirt!" Rouge said with exasperation.  
  
"And what makes you think I care? I don't want a boyfriend, if I did I would dress up quite happily." Sammie snapped.  
  
"It's not just about that, it's about giving yourself some confidence."  
  
"I have confidence because I know that I can kick anyone's ass." She pointed out.  
  
"I'm not sure about that, after all, you haven't tested your skills against Knuckles yet."  
  
"Knuckles? Pah, I'd have no problems with him. He would just be embarrassed at being within five foot of the female species!" Sammie retorted.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Knuckles is afraid you'll react very badly if he went near a girl after what happened with Gillian."  
  
"How do you know that?" Rouge demanded.  
  
"It's obvious from the way he acts. But maybe he's just wary around all strangers. We'll pick him up on the way home if he isn't doing anything." Emily suggested.  
  
It was at this point that Sammie saw a shoe shop up the road. No wanting Rouge to notice this, she tried to get her attention. It was in vain though as she saw it at the same time.  
  
"Oh look, another shoe shop! Come on Sammie, you /will/ buy some new shoes." Rouge said with determination.  
  
"But I don't want to!" Sammie whined. She was eventually dragged into the shop but only after being promised that she did not have to buy anything if they were really bad. Sammie knew however that Rouge would do her best to convince her otherwise. Emily was just relieved that she could now finally sit down and rest while she watched Rouge and Sammie have yet another argument with great amusement.  
  
"Rouge, can't we do this another day? This is getting really boring now." Sammie sighed as Rouge ignored her and continued to pass shoes to her.  
  
"What about one of these?" Rouge asked.  
  
"I can see that you are going to ignore me until I try these on..." she muttered as she sat down.  
  
She tried them on one by one and soon the shoes were in two piles, the 'definitely not' one and the 'maybe' one. The 'definitely not' one was somewhat larger than the other and Rouge sighed in frustration.  
  
"Sammie, you can't keep doing this you know."  
  
"Why not? The pair of shoes I have at the moment are perfectly fine; I don't need a new pair! It's not like I'm going to get more respect or popularity because of it or anything."  
  
"Sammie, we've been over this a hundred times! Why are you trying to make things difficult?" Rouge demanded.  
  
"Because I can and because I will. I'm not about to give in, so why do you think I will?"  
  
"Because I'm not going to give in either!" She snapped.  
  
"Fine them! I'm fed up with this, I'm going home." Sammie stood up abruptly and grabbing her bags, stormed out of the shop.  
  
"I don't think she'll be buying any shoes today." Emily commented.  
  
"She is such a little madam! Is she always like that?" Rouge inquired, watching after her.  
  
"She has a temper, you just have to be careful you don't rub her up the wrong way." Emily began to put the shoes away and Rouge helped her. Once they had finished, they left the shop. "Come on, let's go and get Knuckles. I'm sure Sammie will calm down after she's taken out her anger on him."  
  
"I don't think I want my boyfriend being permanently injured by her..."  
  
************************  
  
They got back to the apartments and found Knuckles looking very bored. He agreed to go with them and they eventually got to Emily and Sammie's house. It was an average semi detached with the normal number of rooms and a small garden at the front. There was a driveway but no car and Rouge commented on this.  
  
"My mum and dad are out today. They won't be back until late." Emily replied, unlocking the door. Dumping her bags in the living room, Emily stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked up. "Sammie, are you up there?" She shouted. When she got no response, she shrugged her shoulders. "Must be out the back then..." She walked through the kitchen and Knuckles and Rouge followed her.  
  
Most of the back garden seemed to have disappeared and had been replaced with a large shed.  
  
"What's in there?" Rouge asked.  
  
"This is Sammie's training ground." Emily said, listening carefully. "And it sounds like she's in there." She opened the door and stepped in, leaving Rouge and Knuckles to stare in amazement at the room. It had been totally dedicated to martial arts with posters all around the walls. The floor was made up of polished floorboards and Sammie was now moving around a punch bag, which hung from the ceiling. She was dressed in blue tracksuit bottoms and multicoloured strappy top.  
  
When she saw them, she stopped what she was doing and wiped her face with a towel.  
  
"Hi Sammie, feeling better?" Emily asked with a smile.  
  
"Yeah, you know, taking my anger out on the punch bag. I just-" She stopped suddenly when she saw Rouge standing beside Emily and quickly changed the direction of the conversation. "I was...just finishing." She said instead.  
  
"That's strange, you looked like you had just got into the swing of things." Rouge said coldly, glaring at her.  
  
"Well the punch bag is swinging but I don't know about me." Sammie said, shrugging her shoulders. Meanwhile, Knuckles was looking around the room in fascination.  
  
"Do you go in here every day?" He asked.  
  
"If I don't have a lesson in the afternoon." She saw the look on his face. "You like it?"  
  
"I haven't done any martial arts for ages..." He looked wistfully at the punching bag, causing Sammie to smile.  
  
"You can have a go on the punch bag if you want."  
  
"Hey why don't you two have a fight? I'd love to see Sammie try some stuff out." Rouge suggested.  
  
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea! Knuckles gets some practise and Sammie gets to finally compete with someone with a similar skill level to her." Emily added.  
  
"I don't know...I don't want to attack a girl." Knuckles said nervously.  
  
"You didn't have a problem with attacking me not so long ago." Rouge pointed out. "Anyway, I'm sure Sammie can handle it."  
  
"Of course I can! There's no reason for you to immediately assume you can beat me." She ran a few steps away from them before doing a flip. "Will you fight me?" She turned around and faced him.  
  
"Um...I suppose so." He glanced downwards and saw a circle had been set into the floor. He moved so he was facing Sammie in the middle of the circle and stood in a fighting pose.  
  
"You think you can beat me?"  
  
"I err-"  
  
"Come on sonny boy, if you think you're good enough." She coaxed him towards her with her finger, a small smile on her face (Note from S. Chensu: Ooh, just like in the Matrix).  
  
He moved to punch her but she jumped into the air, aiming at his face with her foot. Too quick for her, he grabbed her leg, twisting it so she was put off balance. She countered by using his shoulder as a lift off point using her other foot and landed behind him. This caused Knuckles to fall to his knees and he blinked, confused. No one had ever caused him this much trouble before, except for Sonic. But this was different, they knew that Knuckles was the martial arts expert and here he was, being beaten by a girl.  
  
He pushed himself back onto his feet, bending backwards to avoid a hand heading straight for his head. Leaning on one arm, he knocked Sammie over with a leg, totally surprising her. He jumped up and placed a foot lightly on her stomach.  
  
"I am good enough." He said, staring down at her and she laughed.  
  
"That's your problem Knuckles, you're think the fight finishes when the enemy is down on the ground." She threw her weight backwards, kicking Knuckles in the groin. He yelled in pain, falling over on his side. He continued to grimace as Sammie looked down at him. "The fight finishes when the enemy can't get back off the ground." He rolled over so he was lying on his back.  
  
"You cheated, you only did that because you knew it would hurt. You haven't won at all." He said, gasping for breath.  
  
"But isn't that how you work Knuckles? Do whatever you have to do to survive? I didn't think of you as the sort of person who lived by morals and rules." She offered him a hand and taking it, she pulled him up. "Thank you for the fight Knuckles."  
  
"I'm glad I could give you such delight." He said and looked over to where Emily and Rouge had sat themselves down on a bench.  
  
Emily and Rouge stared in surprise at the two of them, both of them impressed and slightly scared by Sammie.  
  
"Good fight. You both did very well and only one slightly twisted ankle and a groin injury. I tell you Knuckles, you're one of the lucky ones." Emily said, looking thoughtful. "I remember one guy who couldn't sit down for a week after he'd picked a fight with her." Rouge visibly blanched at this.  
  
"Definitely one of the lucky ones..." She said slightly faintly.  
  
"It wasn't my fault though, he did provoke me." Sammie pointed out.  
  
"Oh well, I enjoyed it. Maybe you two should get together again some time soon. Perhaps we could get the others to come and see it, charge them money..." Emily suggested, a grin on her face.  
  
"Maybe later but for now, I need a drink..." Sammie said and the four of them went to the kitchen to get drinks and food.  
  
************************  
  
Monday arrived and Tails walked to school, wondering what would happen after the events on Friday. The bruise was better than before and now it just looked worse than it felt. He walked through the school gates and was met by Dan and Sarah.  
  
"Hi Tails." Dan said awkwardly.  
  
"Look, we're really sorry for Friday. If we'd known the truth then we'd have never done it." Sarah added quietly.  
  
"Of course you wouldn't have done it, unless you go around punching people normally." Tails snapped.  
  
"Yes, it does seem like a stupid thing to say doesn't it?" Sarah said and she smiled.  
  
"I hope we can be friends again Tails." Dan said and Tails frowned.  
  
"I don't know you two. So far I've only made one discovery about this place and that is the people in it are ready to hurt someone because of something they've heard." There was an awkward silence so Tails just shrugged his shoulders and left them standing there.  
  
************************  
  
A week passed and things had settled back down into normality. Everyone was getting on all right at school, although things were still a bit stiff with Tails. The conversation he had had with Dan and Sarah hadn't really been continued and he still wasn't sure whether he could trust them or not. He had become quite good friends with Hannah and Peter though, he enjoyed being with them. Marie was...  
  
Well, it was hard for Tails to be able to decide how he felt about her. It changed from day to day. Most of the time she was just Marie, no one special or worth making a note of. They didn't really talk, not because they wouldn't but there wasn't much they could talk to each other about. Tails realised he didn't know anything about her and he was still not sure whether he wanted to find out anything either. Other times though...he wondered what it would be like if they did talk, if they could become friends, forgetting what had happened between them. She was pretty but Tails thought that was just being shallow, you couldn't like someone just because of how they looked. It could play a part but no more.  
  
As Tails walked into school on Monday, he wondered if this week would be different from the last. Less silence, more laughter. The latter he hoped and as he saw Marie walking up to him, he decided that there was no reason why it shouldn't be the latter.  
  
"Hey Tails, have a nice weekend?" She asked when she had reached him.  
  
"Yeah, it was all right I suppose..." The weekend was actually quite boring. Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge had coursework so they didn't go out and Tails just couldn't be bothered to do anything. Anyway, he had had a lot of thinking to do. "What about you?"  
  
"I did some research over the weekend on my family tree. Can you remember when you wondered if we were related?" Yes, he could remember, back in the days when there were no silences.  
  
"Yeah, I remember."  
  
"Well I looked at my family tree and it turns out that we are! Mind you, the connection does go back at least ten generations but it's definitely there. Don't you think that's cool?" She looked excited but to be honest, it didn't fill him with the same emotion. He felt like saying 'so what' but realised that wouldn't be a good idea so he smiled instead.  
  
"That's cool!" It wasn't really though. If he was on there, then so were his parents and he didn't like thinking about them.  
  
"Maybe you can tell your parents about it when you get back to Japan." The story that Rouge had made up was agreed on by all and so it was the one that Tails kept to. He had never mentioned his family though.  
  
"I probably won't, I haven't seen or heard from them since they abandoned me when I was a baby." The smile on Marie's face disappeared and she bit her lip, not sure of what to say.  
  
Just then, they heard the bell go and Marie walked towards the classroom, glad of the interruption in the silence that had descended over the two of them.  
  
************************  
  
It was now Wednesday and Marie was having a history lesson, which was boring as usual. She didn't know why anyone would want to study a bunch of prehistoric cavemen who couldn't even string a sentence together. So instead she thought about Tails and occasionally looked at him. This was made difficult because she sat next to him and she could only see him out of the corner of her eyes, which made them hurt. So in the end, she settled to just thinking about him.  
  
Although it had been a shock when she had first heard him say it, Marie now wondered how she didn't realise it before. She didn't know anyone who had been abandoned by their parents but he seemed to have this coolness, this barrier about him. He didn't trust anyone apart from Sonic and the others but that was because he had known them for years. At first Marie thought it was because of what had happened and that was still true. But now she knew about Tails, it opened up a new horizon of her understanding of him. Not that she did really but it gave her the background, why he was distrustful of strangers.  
  
She had hoped that the family tree thing would have allowed them to start talking again but it had only made things worse. Now he kept giving her looks, as though expecting her to confirm his thoughts. His thoughts of what, she wasn't sure but it was like he was expecting a judgement. She didn't care about what had happened to him in the past, it didn't change him as a person for her. She wasn't put off by it; it had merely make her think about him more.  
  
She wanted to be friends with him but every time she was near him, she got the look. She didn't know how to get past it so she could talk to him. Not some act he put on, but /him/. She had considered talking to Sonic but after walking home a few times with him, she knew he wasn't going to be good at that sort of thing. And he just didn't seem that close to the others, even though he knew them fairly well. Dan and Sarah wouldn't understand but maybe Peter and Hannah would...  
  
She tracked them down at lunchtime and found them sitting on a bench together, talking about something or other. It didn't matter anyway, because they stopped as soon as she came over.  
  
"Hey guys, can we talk?" Marie said as she sat down next to Hannah.  
  
"I assume this has something to do with Tails?" Hannah said.  
  
"You're right as usual. What am I going to do? I've completely messed things up and now he won't do anything apart from glare at me."  
  
"He's waiting for you to tell him that you're going to abandon him too, or show him at least." Peter said, shrugging his shoulders.  
  
"How do you know about that?"  
  
"He told us after we asked him why he kept looking at you like that. He wouldn't say what had happened, only that it had. He's confused Marie, I think you should make your feelings clear to him." Hannah suggested.  
  
"I don't know what to make of him. He keeps swinging from one emotion to another...the only way I feel at the moment is confused."  
  
She stopped when she saw Tails walking towards them. He paused, seeing her but then continued and this filled her with hope. She smiled at him and he frowned slightly, not sure how to take this.  
  
"Hi Tails, you sitting or standing?" Peter asked friendlily and this seemed to snap him out his puzzlement.  
  
"I'll stand thanks." He said, looking at Marie as he said this. She sighed silently, his words confirming he was still angry with her.  
  
"Well I suppose I'll be going then." She made to stand up but was stopped by a hand on her arm.  
  
"It's not like you have anywhere important to go." Hannah whispered.  
  
"I just-" She stopped and shook her head. "Never mind." They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, Peter and Tails fully aware of what was going on.  
  
"Not long 'til the weekend now eh?"  
  
"Yeah, not that I'll be doing anything anyway. Sonic, Rouge and Knuckles have loads of coursework to do at the moment and it's really boring." Tails commented.  
  
"It's the same for all of us. My brother keeps snapping at me every time I look happy or go out because he knows he can't." Hannah added.  
  
"Gillian seems to spend most of her time round Sammie and Emily's doing her coursework so luckily I haven't had to deal with her too much." Marie said.  
  
"It's all right for some..." Peter muttered. "Hey, maybe we could do something at the weekend. Go to the cinema or something."  
  
"That sounds good. We could go see that new comedy with Oliver Flower in it."  
  
"You only want to see it because it's got him in it!" Peter protested.  
  
"And your point is?"  
  
"I don't want to spend two hours with you drooling over him. Let's go see The Surrounding Substance: Refill instead."  
  
"That's full of blood and violence though." Hannah pointed out.  
  
"Exactly. A film isn't a film if it doesn't have some violence in it." Peter said.  
  
"We'll never get into it, it's a fifteen." Tails said. "We're only nine after all."  
  
"What are we going to see then?" Hannah asked.  
  
"Lets just go see the Buccaneers of Hawaii." Peter said resignedly.  
  
"I knew you would say that." Hannah said as she shared a grin with Marie.  
  
"Oliver Flower, here we come!" Marie said, swooning. Tails rolled his eyes and shook his head.  
  
"Pathetic." He muttered, loudly enough for her to hear.  
  
"Oh so I'm pathetic am I? You're the one that's being all pathetic, assuming that I'm not going to talk to you again because of what happened in the past! Why do you have to make things so complicated?" She stood up and walked away, ignoring Hannah and Peter's shouts.  
  
When school ended Marie walked out quickly, not wanting any of the others to catch up with her. She paused momentarily though when she heard Tails shout her name.  
  
"Marie! Wait up!" He caught up with her and stood for a moment to catch his breath. Once he was able to speak normally again, he looked at her sadly. "Can we talk?"  
  
"As long as it's not here." Marie said shortly and Tails merely nodded his head before walking over to where Shadow was.  
  
"Shadow I'm going to be home late ok?" Shadow raised an eyebrow and held out a hand.  
  
"Do you want me to take your bag for you?"  
  
"Yes...please. Shadow, don't tell the others what I'm doing please." Shadow glanced to where Marie was and nodded.  
  
"Of course not. Just try not to be too long, and good luck." He started to walk away before Tails could ask what he meant by 'good luck'.  
  
He turned back to find Marie and was surprised to find her standing only a couple of feet away. She didn't say anything and merely started to walk out of the school. He followed her, wondering where they were going to go.  
  
He found out twenty silent minutes later when they entered the park. Marie was now walking at a more leisurely pace, whereas before she had been practically storming down the road, refusing to look either left or right. She eventually stopped at a bench overlooking the lake and Tails realised that this was the bench that he and Rouge had sat on, when he was talking about her only a couple of weeks ago.  
  
She sat down on the bench and Tails hesitated before sitting on it too, wondering why Marie had chosen this place to talk.  
  
"Marie, I'm really sorry about the last few days." He said eventually, breaking the silence.  
  
"I think things have been going wrong for a few weeks now, haven't they? We should be friends but..."  
  
"We're not." Tails finished for her. "I don't think I expected things to be like this. I didn't think I would find someone like me, someone who had suffered because of what they looked like."  
  
"Yeah me too." She nodded in agreement and gazed into his eyes. "Can we be friends Tails?" She asked quietly.  
  
"Of course we can...if you can forgive me." She smiled and hugged him tightly, causing Tails to blush slightly.  
  
"I forgive you." She whispered and she kissed him on the cheek.  
  
Tails flinched in surprise and she gasped, staring at him in shock. She let go of him quickly and looked down.  
  
"I'm sorry Tails, I don't know what came over me..." She whispered but he took her hand in his and shook his head.  
  
"It doesn't matter, I...I liked it." He mumbled, drawing her into a tight hug. They sat like this for a while, finding comfort in each other's arms. Marie eventually sat up and squeezed Tails' hand.  
  
"What does this mean Tails? Are we...?"  
  
"Don't worry about what we are. We'll find out what we are one day." Tails promised her and they stood up, walking hand in hand back to the entrance of the park. Marie gave him another small kiss before walking back to her house.  
  
Tails walked home in a daze, not quite sure of what had happened. All he knew was that he and Marie had something that maybe other friends didn't have. Maybe it was the fact that they had been through so much. Maybe...  
  
~But it's no use thinking like this.~ Tails thought. ~I will find out what it is, but it's too soon. Maybe one day...~  
  
He knocked on the door and was immediately bombarded by questions when Eggman opened it.  
  
"Where have you been? Shadow comes home with your bag and won't say where you've gone or anything! You had better have a good excuse!" Tails hadn't seen Eggman this angry for some time and it made him slightly fearful. However, he was saved by Rouge who had also come into the hall.  
  
"Aw, don't be like that with him! I'm sure he's got a good enough reason. It has been funny seeing Shadow sitting on the sofa legs crossed and eyes closed, refusing to even open his mouth." Tails wondered what she meant as he walked down the hall until he saw Sonic and Knuckles standing in front Shadow who looked like he was meditating. Just then, they saw Tails and Sonic rushed over to where he was.  
  
"Tails, don't ever do that again! You had me really worried." He scolded as Tails sat down on the sofa next to Shadow.  
  
"Shadow, you can open your eyes now." Tails joked and he turned to look at Tails. "Thanks for not telling them." "That's ok. You should probably tell them now though." He suggested and he nodded his head, waiting for the others to sit down.  
  
"So then, where were you?" Eggman asked.  
  
"Well, I..." Tails wasn't sure how to word it and seeing this, Rouge cupped his face with her hands and stared into his eyes.  
  
"I think we have a case of lover boy." She concluded after a few moments.  
  
"Noooooooo! Tails, I thought you said you were never going to get a girlfriend! We were going to be single forever and now you've done this to me." Sonic wailed and Tails sighed.  
  
"Marie isn't my girlfriend. We've just come to an understanding, that's all." He corrected and Eggman nodded knowingly.  
  
"Oh so that's why you were gone. Are you talking now?"  
  
"Yeah, we're talking."  
  
"Snogging more like!" Sonic earned a punch on the arm for that from Rouge.  
  
"Well I think it's sweet. I'm glad you've finally made up with each other." She said. "Men have no understanding of emotions."  
  
"I don't need to though! Neither did Tails..." Sonic said sadly and Tails laughed.  
  
"Don't worry Sonic, I'm not going to start writing poetry or anything like that. I don't even know what Marie and me are yet; we're just taking it in our own pace."  
  
"But why wouldn't you let Shadow tell us what you were doing?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"I wanted to tell you what happened myself, instead of Shadow saying and you making assumptions which might have been wrong. It wasn't for any other reason than that."  
  
************************  
  
As Tails lay in his bed that night, he wondered what Hannah and Peter would say about it. ~They probably wouldn't be surprised...~ Tails thought and he laughed silently. ~They seem to know what's going to happen before it does anyway. I'm glad Rouge supported me back there; I don't know what things are going to be like between Sonic and me now...~  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Luff: Ah, nice and short!  
  
S. Chensu: Which should mean that you have enough time to review it!  
  
Luff: Will you stop going on about that? You'll scare them all of if you're not careful!  
  
S. Chensu: I suppose so.  
  
Luff: Anyway, as it's half term, we're going on holiday for a couple of days so that should hopefully be a good time for us to get at least episode 14 done, and hopefully 15 too.  
  
S. Chensu: Yes, we have /still/ not written them but I promise they will be up at the right times.  
  
Luff: See, now you've just put lots of pressure on us!  
  
S. Chensu: Maybe that's what we need to get them done.  
  
Luff: Humph, maybe... Anyway, please review and until next week, enjoy life!  
  
S. Chensu: And half term if you're currently on one like we are! 


	14. Guilty until proven innocent

S. Chensu: WE'RE SORRY FOR NOT GETTING THIS UP ON TIME!

Luff: The reason why is because we left it until Sunday and then Chen was suddenly called away to start her new part time job-

S. Chensu: Wahoo, I finally have some money!

Luff: However, we're only one day late so it's not too bad.

S. Chensu: Although this episode is! It's short and because of me writing my Yu-Gi-Oh! story (which I'll hopefully start posting up soon if anyone wants to read it. Please check profile for more details (Figure 0.9) and tell me about it in your review) it's got some very strange random bits in it.

Luff: But we'll let you read it and decide.

S. Chensu: Anyway, onto responses to reviews now. I'm pleased to say we got a lot more for the last chapter; in fact we got 5 reviews!

Luff: Humph, although three of them were for other chapters.

S. Chensu: That's not the point! Anyway in response to questions/comments etc:

RichaCo- Thank you for reviewing once again! We're sorry for the shortness of the last chapter, this one is a little bit short too but hopefully it'll still be exciting.

RavenGhost- Here's the update and we're happy that you like it so much!

Dragon Master Naya- We're not really sure what Shadow does; it's up to you we suppose. For the first few days it was mostly decorating but now… Maybe we'll decide what he does in this chapter.

Shadow Streak- Nice to know you think our story's good. When we have time somewhere in the next ten years or so (don't worry, it will be before then…hopefully…) we're going to read everyone's stories out of those who have reviewed for us in return for being so nice. We know Shadow doesn't have much action but he will soon. So will Eggman…unfortunately.

anime/tcgfan- If you read the author's note for episode 12, you'll see we've already answered this question but we'll answer it again. When we started writing this, we hadn't actually finished Sonic Adventure 2 (or got very far with it for that matter…) so we didn't know she would be there at the end. By the time we realised our huge mistake, we'd done too much of the story to go back and change it all. We're sorry if you're a big Amy fan but not many people seem to mind her lack of appearance in this story.

Mai&Yugi, who is occupied yet again- Guys, it's lovely that you review and all (even though we practically bribed you to) but please remember to review the right chapter and mention the story somewhere in it instead of talking about Yu-Gi-Oh! all the time. We told you this only two episodes ago.

Luff: Now that's over, it's on to the story!

S. Chensu: You may be surprised by the sudden change in story plot but it was necessary to explain the Eggman situation. And another point to just say that the second section of this episode is done with everyone answering the questions, that's why there's little/no description. And a warning that there will be swearing in this episode.

Luff: Argh, we forgot the disclaimer!

S. Chensu: Oops! Just to make a note that we don't own the Sonic characters or the book "War and Peace". All we own is the story and Sammie, Emily, Gillian and Suzie for this episode. And the robot.

Luff: Now we can get on with the episode!

Episode fourteen: Guilty until proven innocent 

It was a Tuesday evening and the gang were watching television. The news specifically but it didn't matter in particular what it was because as far as Sonic was concerned, it was boring. But Eggman insisted on watching it anyway, saying they had to see if anything major had happened. Shadow had agreed with him and they weren't swayed when Sonic pointed out that if something major were to happen, they could see it out of the window. This had merely caused Rouge to smack him around the back of the head and call him an idiot. It still hurt and so Sonic rubbed the back of his head in a sulk while Tails, sitting next to him, was trying to suppress a fit of giggles.

The newsreader had just finished reading a story about a goose being chased through the park by an angry middle-aged woman when her hand went to her earpiece and she frowned.

"News has just come in of a bank robbery in Bickley committed yesterday at eight o'clock in the evening." The others sat up when they heard this and Eggman increased the volume. "The burglar was apparently caught on security cameras and police are currently searching for the thief." The woman's face disappeared and was replaced by an amateur video of the bank and a white creature flying away from it, carrying several bars of gold.

"Hey, that looks like…" Tails started, but was soon cut off by the news reporter, who began to rapidly reel off more information about the robbery.

"The thief has been identified as a young, female bat with white fur and wearing black clothes. Several eyewitnesses have…" Rouge sat there, stunned.

_It can't be me…_ She thought, gazing helplessly at the T.V. Another shot of the robbery came on the screen, but this time with a closer view of the counterfeit Rouge: it was a spitting image of her.

Rouge felt the tears well up in her eyes as she continued to stare at the screen, the horrifying event washing over her. The others looked at her in surprise; they seemed just as shocked as she was. She felt something brushing her hand and looking down, she saw that it was Knuckles. He gripped her hand with his own and squeezed it slightly to reassure her.

"I'm sure it's all just a big misunderstanding Rouge, they won't try and arrest you, I'm sure of-" His deep voice was suddenly cut off though by the barging down on the front door and the crashing of windows.

The next few minutes nobody could remember, apart from the confusion and chaos felt by all, like a hurricane had come along and swept everything sane away. One by one they were arrested and while Knuckles and Sonic passionately argued against the whole thing, Rouge remained quiet, the life gone from her eyes. She didn't know why she felt so bad, she hadn't done anything wrong, she knew she was innocent but even then, she wondered what would happen to the others. Eggman being found out, the Master Emerald located and Shadow being confirmed as being alive, despite the fact he was supposed to be dead. It was all very well lying to the council and the schools but the police were a different matter. They were the law, the unstoppable wall with the harsh glare of spotlights shining upon anything unusual or untruthful. Red and blue, washing over you, too bright to look at. And then the coldness of the room, a lonely table and set of chairs, all there is to show for your life.

"Officer, why are you doing this? She's innocent, I swear!" Sonic yelled as he was literally dragged into the interview room.

"Sir, if you don't control yourself we'll have to charge you for police harassment and disturbing the peace." One of the officers stated as they plonked Sonic in a chair. He sat there; arms crossed and frown on his face. The two officers sat on the other side of the table and one of them turned the recorder on. "The time is nineteen thirty." He said before leaning back in his chair.

"Name?"

"Sonic."

"Age?" A new voice, a different room but looking exactly the same as the other.

"Ten."

"Date of birth?" Another new voice, another new room.

"The twentieth of June, 1987."

"Status?"

"The ultimate life form."

"Pardon?"

"I said student."

"What were you doing on the evening of the twenty third of September?"

"Homework."

"Having a bath."

"Watching TV."

"Having an arm wrestle with Sonic."

"Having an arm wrestle with Shadow."

"Reading."

"For a whole evening?"

"Yes, do you realise how much coursework I have to do?"

"Yes. I did my hair, nails and plucked, waxed and shaved."

"They were having a marathon session of Clanger episodes."

"Sonic just wouldn't admit to losing."

"It was best out of twenty."

"'_War and Peace'_ is a very long book."

"So no one actually saw you?"

"They're all men, what do you think?"

"So she could have left the flat when she was in the bath?"

"No because I could see the door from where I was."

"And there aren't any windows in the bathroom she was in."

"But surely if you were fully absorbed in your book, you couldn't see the door?"

"Well he would have heard it."

"But Tails says he was watching the TV."

"So? Knuckles went in the bathroom later."

"But Rouge said that no one went in."

"Apart from Knuckles. They're together and the only reason he went in was to give her a bottle of nail polish."

"What colour?"

"How the hell should I know? Do I look like I wear nail polish to you?"

"It was a pinkish colour, frosted I think."

"And nothing else happened while he was in there?"

"No! What do you think I am, a slut?"

"How was she acting at school?"

"Like normal. You know, chatting and stuff like that."

"Chatting to who?"

"You know, like people in our class."

"Any names in particular?"

"Well Sammie and Emily, Gillian, Suzie…maybe some others."

"So you can account for all of the others then?"

"Yes inspector I can. Can I go now?"

"Just a couple more questions."

"Fine then, whatever."

"You may leave now, you've been released." Sonic looked up when he heard this and sighed in relief.

"Thank you." He stood up and went to the door of the cell, suddenly remembering why he was here in the first place. "What about Rouge? Are you going to release her?" The guard ignored him, merely walking away in response to his question. "Hey mister, I asked you a question!" He shouted.

"Sonic, there you are! Come on, let's get outside, the others are waiting for us." Sonic turned around, hearing Tails' voice and saw him standing by the reception, using his arm to lean on the wall.

"What about Rouge?" Tails scowled at this.

"I'll tell you about that outside."

Once they were out of the police station, they found Knuckles and Eggman having a huge argument with each other while Shadow looked on, unsure as to whether he should get involved or not. Sonic turned to Tails, hoping he might have some idea as to why they were arguing and he sighed, rolling his eyes. They soon reached Shadow and he turned to face them properly, seemingly glad of the distraction.

"What the hell is going on?" Sonic whispered, not quite sure why he was talking so quietly.

"Knuckles is blaming Eggman for Rouge getting arrested. He's got it into his head that Eggman created that robot to get back at her." Shadow explained neutrally although he had a very annoyed expression on his face.

"Get back at her for what though? She didn't betray him or anything." Sonic asked, still utterly bewildered by the whole situation.

"We're not quite sure on that part yet. He hasn't given any evidence to prove this and anyway, she never betrayed him or did anything that she wasn't supposed to." Shadow replied, musing on the problem. "Apart from it took her so long to get the Chaos Emeralds on Prison Island she nearly got blown up with it." He added afterwards.

"He's probably just angry and needs someone to blame. Unfortunately the fact that Eggman has tricked him so many times before doesn't really help his case. Or the fact he's the one who built both Metal Sonic and Mecha Knuckles." Tails commented.

"Yeah but that was in the past. Surely if Eggman wanted to capture us all etc etc he would have done it by now?" Sonic pointed out.

"Hey, don't tell me that, tell Knuckles. He's the one who's ready to blow a fuse." Tails said, shrugging his shoulders.

Sonic looked over to where Eggman and Knuckles were and noticed that things seemed to have calmed down a bit. Now they were just talking over each other instead of trying to deafen each other.

"You caused trouble for us last time and now you're going to do it again! You bastard, don't you think you've caused enough problems as it is without adding to them?" Despite the height difference, Knuckles still seemed to be threatening by his aggressive voice and posture.

"Now Knuckles why would I do something like this? There is no advantage in making you lot my enemies-" For possibly the first time in his life, Eggman seemed worried by what would happen.

"So you decided to gain our trust before springing your trap!"

"No, I didn't! And anyway, how am I expected to take on the five of you? Shadow and Rouge certainly won't go against you now and they know me too well for me to be able to hide my plans!"

"That's a point Eggman, why have you changed? All these years you've struggled against us, whether it was to get the Chaos Emeralds of just destroy us in general, and now you've suddenly and seemingly miraculously changed. What's up with that? Is it another cunning plan?"

"No, I /_have/_ changed! Why can't you just accept that?" Eggman yelled, now becoming angry at Knuckles' continual denial. "I would never want to hurt your relationship with Rouge and I just haven't had the time to build or even /_think/_ about robots recently. And anyway, where was I supposed to hide it, in my bedroom? If you still don't believe me, ask Shadow. He can account for my actions." Knuckles turned to face Shadow who looked worried at the mention of his name.

"Err, yeah. I don't really go out during the day, too many chores to do. I suppose you haven't thought about the amount of washing you four create, especially Rouge." Shadow stared at Knuckles, eyebrow raised.

"Please Knuckles, stop blaming Eggman. I don't believe it was him so why should you?" Sonic added, stepping forward. "If Eggman really did want to capture us all or whatever, he would have done it by now surely? Don't jump to conclusions, it will ruin our chances of getting Rouge out of there if we're fighting with each other all the time."

"Well you may believe him but he's tricked me too many times! I'm not willing to just let that go!" Knuckles shouted, crossing his arms.

"Knuckles, that was all in the past! Come on, let's just go home and try to think of how to get the police to release Rouge." Tails pleaded, close to tears by the whole situation. Knuckles stared at him, not sure of what to do for a moment before nodding his head and sighing.

"You're right, all of you are right. I'm sorry for acting like an idiot, can you forgive me?" He asked quietly.

"Don't worry, we forgive you. And don't worry about acting like an idiot, Sonic /_is/_ an idiot so that's ok." Shadow commented, earning a punch on the arm from Sonic.

"Let's go home and discuss what to do." Eggman said and nodding their heads in agreement, the group made their way home.

Tails, Sonic and Knuckles made their way to school the next day quietly, still depressed by the events of last night. They weren't sure what they were going to tell everyone, confused by the situation and what the status of it was. Sonic and Knuckles said goodbye to Tails in front of his school before making their way to Maples.

Once they got to school, they found out that Eggman had phoned the school and explained the situation to them, bringing relief. But when they got to the classroom, something else strange was apparent: Sammie and Emily were missing. Maybe it wouldn't have mattered so much if it was someone else but according to Gillian, they had never had a day off since year eight. So the fact they were suddenly gone seemed to make the whole class on edge, and didn't help Sonic and Knuckles' nervousness.

Nobody mentioned Rouge's arrest, maybe because they had been previously told not to talk about it and they left school without hearing or talking about it once. Once they met up with Tails, they told him about the whole Sammie and Emily situation.

"Don't you think it's strange that after three years of a perfect record, they suddenly don't turn up for school? What if they're seriously hurt?" Sonic asked when he had explained it to Tails.

"Well Sonic, they are allowed to get ill you know. And the likelihood is, if one of them is off, the other one is too because they're so close." Tails replied but seeing that he wasn't satisfied, he shrugged his shoulders. "If it bothers you that much maybe we should go round and see if they're there."

"Good idea Tails."

They arrived at Sammie and Emily's house and saw that as usual, there was no car in the driveway. They had never mentioned where their parents worked, but wherever it was, it was either far away or an early out, late in job. Sonic knocked on the door but got no reply, so he tried to turn the handle, only for the door to swing wide open.

"That's weird…do you think they're in?" He asked.

"Well they're not the type to skive off school, even if they haven't done their homework so I suppose so." Knuckles commented, poking his head through the doorway. "However, I don't think we should go in though, just in case they are out. They might catch us or something."

"Oh come on Knuckles, where's your sense of adventure?" Sonic asked, stepping into the house.

"Sonic, I really don't think this is a good idea…"

"Oh relax, what can happen?"

"This is the part where something unexpected happens…" Tails muttered but nevertheless followed Sonic in.

"Well I'm waiting out here. If they come back, I don't want to be the one to get into trouble." Knuckles said, sitting down on the step.

"Ok then, you can keep an eye out for us. We'll be back soon." Sonic said as he placed his bag down on the floor.

Sonic and Tails quickly looked around the bottom floor but after finding an extreme lack of activity, they decided to try upstairs, despite Knuckles' warning. They stood on the landing at the top of the stairs, wondering whether to go in or not.

"I don't really want to find them in their rooms or something…" Tails whispered.

"We'll just knock on their doors and if there's no reply we'll quickly peek in and then leave. If there is, we'll just say we came to visit to check that they're all right and then leave." Sonic said before knocking on Emily's door. "Hey Emily, are you in there?" There was no reply so he opened the door slightly and looked for the bed. Finding nobody in there, he went to Sammie's room and did the same thing. Yet again hearing no reply, he opened the door only for something with black wings to fly at his face before everything went dark…

They found themselves down at the bottom of the stairs, not quite sure of what had just happened. They shrugged it off and finding Knuckles, they made their way back home to see if Eggman and Shadow had made any developments with Rouge.

It was the third day in the court case of Rouge. Despite their hardest efforts, Rouge had still been charged with robbery and was now on trial. Things seemed to be looking good for Rouge, thanks to the alibis of the others but there was still the problem that the thief looked exactly like her, the main argument of the prosecution. She had remained calm throughout this, hoping that the jury would see it her way although this wasn't true for Knuckles.

In fact, it was the second time he had been chucked out in just the last day and had been threatened by the judge to be banned from the courtroom if he continued behaving the same way. Rouge had talked to him several times, each occasion telling him that everything was going to be ok and that it wouldn't really help her case if he acted like this. He had just shrugged his shoulders, saying it wasn't his fault.

Knuckles seemed to be taking this worse than Rouge was. She had heard from Eggman about the argument they had had and felt sorry for him. Yes, he had been evil but he had changed now and she could understand why he did what he did. He wanted power, so had she at one point. But she was happy to know that he supported her so much and the others too. Eggman had worked so hard, getting her a lawyer and making sure her rights were protected. She had a feeling it was so he could prove to Knuckles that he /had/ changed but she still appreciated it anyway.

The guards had just returned from dragging Knuckles out of the room yelling his head off and she sighed, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's lack of control. The court had finally settled down and the prosecutor was about to continue cross-examining Tails when a large crash was heard.

The whole court was surprised to see a bat standing on the desk in front of the prosecutor and it took a few moments for them to realise that it was a robot and also the fact it looked exactly like Rouge! Great chaos ensued, with the public running from the gallery and the jury hiding under the benches. The judge was suddenly being the most active he had been throughout the trial and sat up straight, looking at the robot without fear.

"What are you and what do you want?" He asked, eyes narrowed.

"I don't have to answer your questions, pathetic mortal." It replied in a toneless voice, but it still filled Rouge with fear. "I am the one you are looking for, the thief who stole your precious gold." It placed a bag down on the table and the end of a bar of gold could be seen through the hole at the top.

"Who are you working for?"

"I work for my master, someone who could make you cower in fear if you were to be in his presence." It looked at the judge and stared at him, almost as though reading his thoughts. "And no, I am not associated with any of these people, I merely did this to show you my master's power."

"Well if your master is so strong, then why doesn't he show himself?" Sonic suddenly yelled out.

"Oh you'll see him soon, sooner than you think." It turned towards the window and blasted off into the air. "But until then, goodbye."

It flew through the window at a phenomenal speed, causing paper to blow into the air and Rouge took this as her opportunity to escape and follow the robot. Nobody got her falsely accused of crimes without paying for it.

She took off after the robot and saw It heading into the distance, a trail of white smoke behind it. She flew as fast as she could, the wind tearing through her fur, making her feel like she was being ripped apart. But she couldn't find It. It just seemed to vanish into thin air, nothing left but a white line in the sky.

"We hereby drop the charge of robbery against Rouge the bat and release her." The judge read out, triggering shouts of joy from the group. Rouge started crying, causing Knuckles to rush to her side while Sonic rolled his eyes, moaning about girls getting too emotional.

The guards led her out of the court and she stood still for a moment, savouring the fresh air before opening her eyes and nearly being blinded by the lights of cameras going off. She found herself surrounded by microphones with at least ten people asking her how she felt. Not sure whether she was allowed to make a statement or not, she decided what the heck, she may as well anyway.

"How does it feel to be cleared of the charge Rouge?" A man yelled out, microphone in hand.

"I would just like to say-" As soon as she started talking, the journalists quietened down, allowing her to continue. "I would just like to say thank you to the judge for realising I wasn't guilty and also thank you to my friends who supported me throughout." She looked behind her and saw the group standing near the top of the stairs, causing her to smile. "They kept me sane during all the bad times. I just want to get back to my life now."

S. Chensu: WE'RE SORRY FOR THE SHORTNESS OF THIS!

Luff: WE'RE SORRY FOR HOW BAD THIS IS!

S. Chensu: But it was certainly different, wasn't it? We hope you liked it and if not, please tell us. Just don't swear, or be too mean.

Luff: Next episode should be up on time, although yet again Chen won't be here because she's on a Biology field trip to do her coursework.

S. Chensu: Grr, stupid coursework!

Luff: So it won't be up until Sunday evening because she'll be back by then.

S. Chensu: Anyway, enjoy life and the week until the next weekend and our next instalment.


	15. The story finally starts

Luff: Hi! I just thought I would post up this little note just to clear a few things up. Chen can't join in 'cos she's on the Isle of Wight (MOAWHAHAHA!), so I hope she doesn't mind me doing this… Anyways, lots of people are asking us questions that they are confused with, so I am going to try my best to answer them. Takes deep breath OK, here it goes!

For Yugi and Mai: Sorry, we can't tell you who is behind this Rouge impostor, so you'll just have to wait until the next chapter. When we've finished it. Heh.

For DarkXeno: Um, Tails doesn't have anything in particular against wearing shorts. It's just one of those thing that people invent for their stories. We do know that Tails' real name is Miles Prower. We have quite a few games. It's just easier to call him Tails. We also decided to change their ages a bit to make it easier to write this story. We thought it would be easier if Tails were 10 so we could do this whole thing with him and Marie. We do the character thing at the beginning of the chapters merely for amusement purposes only. Um, I hope that answers your questions. If you have any more you would like to ask, I would be only too happy to answer them!

For Guest: Um, Amy isn't in this story because my sister and me find her really annoying, and hard to work with as a character. She has gone off to live with her "aunt" somewhere (Don't ask). Eggman is now a good guy because he was "good" at the end of SA2B. Well in a manner of speaking. I know the story's different in Sonic Heroes, but hey. It's a story! So what if it's a little different. They do that with Yami Bakura in Yu-Gi-Oh!, but nobody moans about that. Yeah, I have no idea what that "uncle" thing is, either…soz.

Luff: Umm, I don't think there were any more questions. However, I would like to thank the above people as well as RichaCo, Dragon Master Naya, and midnightblue56 for reviewing our last chapter! (Sorry if I've missed anyone) You don't know how grateful we are!

Oh, and before I forget, you can check our author's page to find out how far we are with writing our stories! Isn't that cool? It will (hopefully) tell you exactly how much we have done, so we will be regularly updating it. And also, if we are having any trouble with our story at all, it will be on the page somewhere.

OK, now that I'm done, it's time to say goodbye! And please don't forget to review!

Thankies! -

Luff xxx

S. Chensu: I'm back now and we're sorry for not posting up the next episode but we just haven't had the time because I've had English coursework that's had to be in this week and Luff has a big graphics project to do. I didn't want to get rid of the note thing, as it's very useful. However, since Luff posted it up, we've had a couple more questions/clarifications so here it goes:

Yugi and Mai: You won't find out about the master of the Rouge robot this episode. In fact it won't be for a few, unless you make the connections. But I won't spoil it by saying anything else. And if you're going to review a story, make sure it's the right one. Reviews for the 'Pressures of Life' should go there, not here.

DarkXeno: Tails just doesn't like shorts; they're not very warm for a start off! And we /have/ acknowledged the fact that Tails' real name is Miles Prower (episode eleven), but he doesn't like being called that. The ages have changed because I personally didn't want them to be in 6th form (it's what we have in British schools from ages 16-18), as you need GCSEs for it. The Tails thing is same as above and Shadow is sixteen because he was encapsulated when he was sixteen, so therefore he looks sixteen (we do realise he is very old). The characters are, as Luff so funnily puts it "for amusement purposes" so just ignore them. We gave them up after a few episodes anyway as it got too complicated. But if you want to give us some characters to do things with we need names and if you have some ideas then by all means, give them to us. They have to be someone we vaguely know though. If it's anime we're restricted to Yu-Gi-Oh! and Cardcaptors but if it's video games, we're a bit better. We do all of Nintendo (that includes third party games), Kingdom Hearts and maybe Final Fantasy. Cartoons we do He-Man, X-Men and Disney (although that may fall under the film category). That's about it. Oh, we do loads of books and films too, we're (especially Chen) film obsessed. We haven't based Sonic on anyone in particularly, for despite having a Sonic story, we very rarely read them, as we don't have time at the moment. We're not picking on Tails; we're just incorporating him into the story.

Guest: Same as above.

S. Chensu: Thank you again for the reviews and sorry if there isn't a message for you; it's just that we've had a lot of reviewers asking questions, which rightly need answering. Just don't ask them again puppy eyes pretty please?

Luff: This episode is (as the title suggests) the start of the story! It'll be exciting so let's go!

Disclaimer: We don't own the Sonic characters but we do own the story, Sammie, Emily, Marie and any other characters not owned by the Sonic team. We also don't own the film mentioned in this episode but we won't spoil it by saying which one…

**Episode fifteen: The story finally starts**

A month had gone past and finally the group had settled down. The police had fully apologised to Rouge for arresting and charging her despite her innocence and while everyone seemed to forget about it, she was still troubled by the event. She had of course, discussed the whole 'master' thing with the others but they couldn't come up with any credible answers. And anyway, she, Sonic and Knuckles had too much coursework to do at the moment, not allowing them any time to give any serious thought to it. It annoyed her that the others weren't taking it seriously, they didn't realise how scared she had been, knowing that there was something that had been created to look like her. It meant that whoever created it knew who she was, what if it was watching her right now?

But she had to be positive. She heard about the robots of Sonic and Knuckles that Eggman had created and they had never seemed to give them too much trouble in the past. But had they expected Eggman to do something like that, she didn't know anyone who wanted to get rid of her that much.

The only thing that was worrying her and the others was the fact that Emily and Sammie were still missing. Apparently, according to the school, they had gone on holiday with their mum and dad but they couldn't remember them ever mentioning it and plus it seemed like a very long holiday to take at such an important time of their school lives. Sonic had told them about going round their house but was very vague concerning it, like someone had wiped the memory away. They merely waited until they came back again so they could find out what had happened.

It was a Thursday evening and the group were sitting in the living room on the various pieces of furniture, one of the few times they could relax. They were waiting for a film to come on and while they did, they talked about various things until the point of the robot was raised by Tails, the one who talked about it the least.

"Does anyone else think it's weird that we haven't seen that robot again?" He suddenly asked and Sonic turned to him, frowning.

"No, not really. It's not like any of us want it to come back. And anyway, we've been through this before. If it was serious, it would have attacked again by now but it hasn't so don't worry about it." Sonic smiled and put his feet on the table, only to have them smacked away by Shadow.

"Hey, I've only just cleaned the last set of sweaty footprints you left on there, I don't want to have to do it again any time soon." He snapped, causing Sonic to grin.

"Aw, little Shadow working all day long with his cloth and frilly white apron-" He stopped suddenly when Shadow lunged at him, causing them to start rolling around on the ground in a play fight.

"Boys, typical." Rouge tisked, rolling her eyes. This turned into a screech though when they bashed into the table, causing her coffee to wobble dangerously. "Watch where you're going you idiots or you'll have to clean the table again anyway!" Shadow stopped immediately when he heard this and sat up in alarm.

"No, anything but clean the table again!" He wailed, pulling Sonic up off the floor to prevent him from colliding with it.

"Now stop it you two." Eggman stated, putting his book down to talk to them properly. "The film's starting now so be quiet."

They dutifully sat back down on the sofa in a subdued mood, knowing that Tails would shout at them if they interrupted the film. They both knew this was one he had wanted to see for ages but he wouldn't say anything about it. The adverts finished and the screen went black with blue and green smoke in the background and a large '4' down one side.

"And now on Channel 4 we present The Exorcist. This film contains bad language and images of extreme horror, which the viewer may find disturbing." As soon as this was said, there was uproar.

"Tails, you are not watching this film!"

"It's an eighteen for a start off!"

"And you'll get really bad nightmares. I couldn't sleep without my light on for a week after I saw it."

"Eggman was afraid of a film?" Sonic snickered and Eggman scowled.

"You have obviously never seen The Exorcist." He crossed his arms and sighed. "Fine then, watch it. But it's not my fault if you get nightmares."

"Thank you Eggman! I promise I won't get nightmares!" Tails squealed, causing Eggman to blush slightly in embarrassment.

They settled down to watch the opening credits, which showed the streets of a city in America…

"ARGH!"

"Tails, I thought I told you not to scream in my ear!" Knuckles snapped, rubbing the side of his head as Tails yelled in fright for the tenth time.

"I'm sorry…" He muttered, proceeding to half hide behind a pillow as he squeezed it to his chest.

"Tails, if it's making you that scared then maybe you should stop watching it-" Eggman started but he shook his head in determination.

"Nope, I'm going to watch all of it!"

"Even if that means getting really bad nightmares?" Shadow asked, standing up and stretching as he said this.

"Where are you going?" Sonic asked, looking up at him.

"Bed. I've seen this before anyway." The others said goodnight to him before he went to his room.

An hour later and the film had finished, although Tails didn't seem to acknowledge this. He remained rigid, staring at the screen as the news came on.

"Tails…earth to Tails…" Sonic said, waving his hand in front of his face. "Hey, are you ok?" He said, putting his arm round his shoulder, causing him to jump.

"What?" His head whipped round to face him and he sighed in relief. "Yeah, I'm ok." He shivered and looked at Sonic pleadingly. "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"I thought you said you were ok." Sonic replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Please Sonic!"

"Fine then. Just don't take up too much room." Sonic rubbed the top of Tails' head before heading towards his bed.

"Just remember you four, I'm not letting you off school because of this." Eggman said and they nodded their heads, turning back to their rooms.

They went to school the next day, although Tails continuingly yawned his head off, complaining about the lack of sleep. Eggman had remained unsympathetic to his cause, not helped when Tails pretended to be ill. So now he was trudging to school, the only thing making it bearable was the fact that Marie was with him and he could boast to her about it.

"You saw The Exorcist? /_The/_ Exorcist? You are /_so/_ lucky, my mum wouldn't even let me stay up that late!" Marie exclaimed, causing Tails to smile.

"He didn't see much of it really, he spent most of his time behind a pillow." Sonic added, causing Marie to giggle while Tails scowled. "And then he had to share my bed because he was afraid the demon might come and take over him." By now Tails had the look of death on his face while Marie continued to laugh. She stopped though when Rouge nudged her and smiled gently at him.

"Don't worry Tails, I'm not laughing at you. I was too scared to watch it too." She whispered, causing Tails to grin.

"Shadow went to bed half way through it because he was so bored." Knuckles commented thoughtfully while Marie looked at him in amazement.

"Really? It sounded very scary."

"He said that he had seen it before anyway. I don't remember watching it back in Japan though…" Rouge commented.

They soon arrived at the entrances to their schools and they waved goodbye to each other before making their way to their rooms…

"Are Sammie and Emily still not back yet?" Miss Dink asked at registration and they shook their heads, not able to explain why. "And Gillian is-"

"At a doctor's appointment." Rouge interrupted and Miss Dink nodded her head.

"Oh yes, I remember her telling me about it yesterday." She closed the register and while she talked to a group of students about a piece of coursework they had to hand in soon, Rouge, Sonic, Knuckles and Suzie were discussing the whereabouts of the twins.

"They surely can't be on holiday /_still/_…" Suzie whined.

"Maybe they went somewhere really far away like Japan…" Sonic mused, causing Suzie to laugh.

"What, with Sammie's appalling grip on the language? She'd probably send everyone she met either to the hospital or into a rage for accidentally insulting them."

"You're probably right… But even then, we're not supposed to take off more than two weeks a year. And now they've been gone for three…" Knuckles added, making the others frown.

"What if they had an accident? They could be hurt and we won't know about it." Suzie suddenly thought but Rouge shook her head.

"No, they've probably gone to visit a family member who's very ill or something…"

"Well I won't be happy until they get back." Suzie said, crossing her arms.

"Let's talk about something else now…" Sonic said, not really wanting to think about their two friends any more.

"Has anyone finished their English coursework yet?" Knuckles asked, only to be hit by several glares.

"Knuckles!" They all yelled, staring at him in disbelief.

"What? What did I say?" He asked in mock innocence, grinning at them at the same time.

"You just want to boast about the fact you've already finished yours!" Sonic snapped, causing Suzie to gasp.

"You've /_finished/_ yours? I've barely started mine!"

"Well I like the play!" Knuckles exclaimed, putting his hands up in a calming way.

"I didn't know you liked Shakespeare…" Rouge muttered, causing him to blush. "Especially Romeo and Juliet…"

"Ooh ee missus, I think we have an case of girlyness on our hands!" Sonic said, causing Knuckles to punch him on the arm.

The bell went at that moment and so they stood up, making their way to their first lesson, which was, funnily enough, English.

The group made their way home but as it was a Friday, they went to the local newsagent to buy some sweets with the money that Eggman gave them every week. Well, Tails and Sonic bought sweets while Rouge bought magazines and Knuckles didn't spend it at all, saying he wanted to save it. Shadow merely didn't but then it was because he said they were bad for you. Marie occasionally bought something too if she could get the money off her mum. Gillian was at athletics' practice so she wasn't with them and of course, Sammie and Emily were still gone.

However, this week was a little different as Sonic decided to follow Knuckles' example and not buy any sweets at all. So while Sonic and Shadow waited outside on the other side of the road, the others went in to have a look for anything they wanted.

"Kensa, I've found them." A girl walked up behind another girl, whose name was said and looked down towards the ground.

"I know, I can see them too now." Kensa replied, her voice quiet and thoughtful.

"Are you sure we have to do this?" The other girl asked, glancing up at her face.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now please stop asking questions." She fell silent and the girl sighed, sitting down on the edge of the building.

"Fine then, I'll stop asking but only if we're allowed to have a little fun with them first." She said.

"There's not time for us to have fun Shaylea! This is serious and if we don't get them-"

"I know about that but can't we throw something at them?"

"Like what?" Shaylea stood up and walked along the roof, stopping when she reached a bag. She brought it back over and Kensa looked in it. "Cabbages? Why cabbages?"

"Because it's funny! And plus they're not just any old cabbages, they're smelly cabbages." She crossed her arms and stared at Kensa.

"Yeah, I can tell." She waved her hand in front of her nose and passed the bag back to Shaylea. "Fine then but you're throwing them, not me."

"Ok."

Sonic and Shadow stood on the path in silence, not being able to think of much to say to each other. Despite the fact they had fights with each other and seemed friendly, there were still a lot of questions that had to be answered and they didn't want to talk about them. Sonic suddenly thought back to the fluttering in his stomach and his confusion only grew, not sure what it was supposed to mean. Especially since he found about Rouge and Knuckles. Were he and Shadow like that? No, he definitely didn't like Shadow like that and he probably would have said the same thing.

His thoughts were rudely interrupted though when he felt something hit him on the head and by the sound of things, so did Shadow.

"Hey, did you feel that?" Sonic asked as he looked at Shadow. He didn't reply though and Sonic followed Shadow's gaze before frowning: a cabbage. What the hell was a cabbage doing here?

"Do you think it's the others?" Shadow asked instead and Sonic shook his head.

"It felt like it came from above…" They both looked up and were surprised to see two people standing on the roof of the newsagent's, one of them holding a round thing in their hand.

"Who the hell are they?" Sonic yelled but Shadow didn't know, so he just shook his head in disbelief.

Suddenly the two people jumped down from the roof and the last thing they felt was the rush of air and wings, which felt very familiar to Sonic before they were knocked on the back of the head. In fact, all that remained was their trainers and a few cabbages.

The others soon came out from the shop, having bought their stuff and looked around, wondering where Sonic and Shadow had gone. It was then they spotted the cabbages.

"They're not here!" Tails yelled out, looking around desperately for any trace of them.

"Everything's gone but their shoes!" Marie also yelled, Tails' panic seeming to be infectious.

"But they were here not long ago." Rouge murmured, kneeling down on the ground to get a better look at what had happened.

"S-s-smelly c-cabbages…" Knuckles stuttered, hiding behind Tails, wincing every time he saw them.

"What the hell?" Tails said, shaking his head as he turned around. "Sonic and Shadow have gone missing and all you can think about is the fact some cabbages are on the ground?"

"Well I don't like cabbages, I had a very bad nightmare about them once. It was after Sonic force fed them to me…" Marie sniggered slightly but Tails frowned.

"Come on, we have to get back to the apartment and tell Eggman about this." He picked up Sonic's shoes while Rouge took Shadow's.

Knuckles suddenly saw a black feather and so picked it up quickly before the group started to run as fast as they could towards the apartment.

S. Chensu: Whew, done. But it's really short, considering the fact it's supposed to be one of the most important parts of the story. And it's crap. If you want something to blame, blame Richard III and my coursework essay on curses, which I've just been redrafting for the third time.

Luff: The Exorcist is one of our favourite films although I agree with Tails, it is a bit scary. And please ignore the whole cabbage thing; it's to do with an advert we saw for MacDonalds once. It's the old ones with the hyenas in it.

S. Chensu: And Shakespeare's in there because my English coursework reminded my on the stuff I had to do at GCSE and one of my essays was comparing Mercutio (my favourite character) and the Nurse. Please ignore the fact I'm going down memory lane here…

Luff: Quite. Anyway, because the story is completely different now, we may change the summary a little bit.

S. Chensu: Also, we'll put up the date for the next chapter on our summary so make sure you read it to know when it is.

Luff: We're doing this as the rest of the story is mostly made up of shorter chapters and it's unfair for you to wait a whole week so it'll be 4-5 days instead.

S. Chensu: So until then, please review!


	16. Enter the Gates of the Underworld

S. Chensu: Episode 16 up as promised. 

Luff: Not many reviews for the last one though. No wonder, it was pretty bad.

S. Chensu: Now for the replies.

Yugi- Whoever you think is the master of the Rouge robot, you're wrong. For a start off the master will not even be mentioned for another two-three episodes so anyone mentioned so far is not in the running. Sorry for that.

Shadow Phantasm- We've already been asked this question by RichaCo but we'll answer it again as we can understand why you would ask it. No it is not yaoi/shonen-ai/slash/lemon/lime/gay people etc etc. It was going to be originally but we know it puts some people off so we got rid of it. After we had written episode seven that is. When Sonic said he didn't like Shadow like that, he was telling the truth and it will always be like that. The same thing goes for Shadow. But there will be an interesting development in their relationship later on. We won't spoil the plot though…

Luff: Today the group start their search for Sonic and Shadow.

S. Chensu: Yay! But anyway, disclaimer time. We don't own the Sonic characters but we do own Marie, Gillian and the story.

Luff: Now that's over and done with, you can read the episode.

Episode sixteen: Enter the Gates of the Underworld 

"Ok so let me get this straight…Sonic and Shadow have just been kidnapped and the only thing that was left behind was their shoes and some cabbages?" Eggman said. The group plus Marie had run back to the apartment as quick as they could where they found Eggman. They told the story to him and he had been considering it for several minutes.

"Yes, I think he's got it! Come on, we have to go…now!" Rouge said, pacing the floor.

"Now wait a minute." Eggman snapped. "We don't have a clue where they've gone and as far as I can tell, there /_isn't/_ a way of knowing where they are." He paused to look at Rouge. "For all we know, they might not even be on Earth anymore."

"So we need a way to find them…" Marie said. "What we really need is a big sniffer dog or something that could find them from their scent…" Hearing this, Tails looked at Knuckles.

"Oh no, there's no way I can sense them. That happened months ago, the mark must have completely gone…" Knuckles said quickly.

"But it was a big mark, are you sure there's no way you can find it?" Tails pleaded.

"Do you realise what you're trying to ask? You're asking me to find a mark, which was made months ago by the /_Chaos/_ Emeralds, not even the Master! I had enough trouble the first time Shadow got lost! There's no _way_ I can find him again." Knuckles insisted, shaking his head.

"How do you know if you haven't even tried? Please Knuckles, just try…" Rouge said desperately.

"Even if I did, I could take days! The conditions here aren't right. I need an exact replica of the Master Emerald shrine, all of the Chaos Emeralds, total silence and darkness… It's impossible." He concluded.

"Is that all you need?" Eggman asked.

"I think so…but you can't have all of those things surely?"

"I know where they all are." Eggman said proudly. "The ARK has the shrine, you can find silence and darkness there and I have nearly all of the Emeralds."

"The ARK? Wasn't that a research station?" Marie asked.

"Yes it was. How many of the Chaos Emeralds do you have?" Tails said.

"Six. You should have the other one." This announcement was met with a gasp from Rouge.

"Six? You mean you've kept them all?" She demanded.

"They are on the ARK. They have not been moved since Sonic and Shadow used them. I have not kept them there deliberately; there just hasn't been time to deal with them. And a good thing too or it would take even longer to sort everything out." Eggman explained.

"Now will you try?" Rouge asked Knuckles.

"I can't promise you anything, just remember that. They could be dead by the time I find them."

"Then at least we can get their bodies back. I know we're asking a lot but we know you'll try your best." Knuckles sighed.

"All right, it looks like you're not going to take no for an answer."

"Oh thank you Knuckles." Rouge hugged him tightly and he smiled.

"Right, we'd better get going then." Marie said and the others looked at her.

"You'll have to stay here Marie. Your parents don't know where you are-" Eggman said and when it looked like she was going to argue, he shook his head. "We'll tell you what we find but for now, we have to go." He walked towards the door and the others followed him.

"Promise me you'll tell me." Marie said, moving in front of the door so they couldn't get out.

"Yes, we promise. You should go home now, we'll call you." Tails said and she left the apartment without a word.

"Right, time to go at last."

Several hours passed and now Tails, Rouge, Eggman and Knuckles were on the ARK. While Tails and Eggman had gone ahead to gather the seven Chaos Emeralds together, Rouge and Knuckles sat together in a quiet corner.

"Hey, are you ok?" Rouge asked, nudging Knuckles when he didn't respond.

"Yeah, I'm just preparing for a lack of food."

"That's a point, /_how/_ are you going to eat?"

"I'm not. I'm going to fast and hope it won't take too long." Rouge looked worried.

"Are you sure about that? It's not very safe you know."

"I've done it several times before, just not recently that's all. I'll be fine, honestly." He added, seeing that Rouge still looked worried.

"As long as you're sure…" She held her piece of the Master Emerald in her hand. "I think you're going to need this."

As it was made whole again, Knuckles felt a great calm wash over him. Although he hadn't realised it, he had been feeling unsettled for several weeks. Now that the Emerald was back together again though, everything was fine. Wondering if this meant anything, he hugged Rouge tightly and they remained like this for several minutes. Even when Eggman and Tails came back, he remained where he was. In the end Rouge (who was starting to feel claustrophobic), nudged him and stood up.

"Is everything ready?" Eggman nodded his head and Knuckles walked towards the chamber. The seven Chaos Emeralds were already in their places and now only the Master Emerald was needed. As Knuckles walked up the steps, the others remained at the bottom, watching him. He stopped and turned around, staring at them.

"Give me twenty four hours. If I'm not out by then, see what is happening. I might be asleep though so don't wake me up." He paused. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you soon…" Taking this as an indicator to leave, they turned round and left the room. Soon Knuckles was in total darkness and placing the Master Emerald in front of him, he settled down and closed his eyes.

"Can he really find them in twenty four hours?" Tails asked.

"I think he's assuming that he will know pretty much straight away whether he has any chance of finding them or not." Eggman replied.

"I hope he does find them, I'm really worried. Especially about Sonic…" Tails stared out of the window towards Earth, looking sad. Rouge placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled comfortingly at him.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll find them. They're both fighters, they won't be dead." Rouge reassured him. _At least not yet…_

An uncomfortable night had passed for Eggman, Tails and Rouge as they waited for Knuckles. Meanwhile, Knuckles had fallen asleep, although he was still searching for Sonic and Shadow. It was hard though; they didn't appear to be above ground. Which meant he couldn't be too careful, or he would miss them…

Rouge found Knuckles sprawled out over the Master Emerald the next morning but didn't wake him up, as he had instructed. Instead she sat beside him, stroking his face as he dreamt, twitching occasionally. She wondered what he was dreaming, could he be seeing something that scared him. Maybe he wasn't even dreaming about Sonic or Shadow, maybe he was dreaming about something else…

_Why is it I'm starting to think that this doesn't mean anything anymore? That we're, or at least me is doing this for the sake of doing this and nothing more? I don't think we have it anymore, whatever /it/ is…_ As she thought this, he stirred and opened his eyes.

"Hey Rouge." He whispered, stretching to help his stiff muscles.

"Are you ok? Sleeping on the Emerald can't have been comfortable." She raised an eyebrow and he blushed, edging away from the Emerald slightly.

"It helped me to focus better." He didn't say anything else though and she wondered if he was actually going to tell her if he had seen them. "It would probably be better if I told everyone if I've seen them." He said quietly, seeming to read her mind.

"Shall we go then?" She said and he frowned slightly, not understanding why she was in such a rush. He moved to hug her but then stopped and walked down the steps to where the others were. She remained still for a moment, watching him walking away from her before she shook her head and followed him.

Knuckles and Rouge entered the main room and found Eggman and Tails having a discussion about technology, comparing their walkers and their various capacities. They stopped when they saw them walk in and turned to look at them. Knuckles walked straight to a window and stared out of it, not seeming to notice the looks on the others' faces. He glanced back briefly at them and seeing the puzzled faces, he sighed and turned back.

"I saw them…" He stated neutrally, keeping totally still.

"Were they alive?" Rouge demanded, getting annoyed by now.

"Yes, they were. They're alive now, I'm sure of that." He paused and turned to face them. "I don't know where they are. I saw the place they're kept in; I saw them but nothing I recognised. It's underground and the entrance is in the side of a mountain. I saw-" He stopped and bit his lip. "I don't know."

"You don't know? Please Knuckles, you must know! You said you saw it so why can't you remember?" Rouge shouted, standing up in anger. Knuckles merely blinked and frowned.

"I saw a mountain…there was snow and trees… The snow was so white, so pure…" He trailed off, his eyes lighting up.

"Knuckles, are you ok? You look a bit light-headed." Tails commented and Knuckles shook his head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. That's all I could see. A mountain covered in snow, it covered the trees. They were pine trees, I think. There were a set of footprints leading towards a small entrance in the side, it was quite dark. There was something flickering, a torch maybe. The crack, it looked like a sideways grin, all teeth and no lips…"

The others were puzzled by the way Knuckles was acting. His voice had become dreamy, like he was in a trance. He wasn't focusing on anything, every thought concentrating on what he had seen. He seemed so withdrawn and quiet that when he smiled at the three of them, he looked slightly psychotic. He didn't say anything else though so they turned to the problem of where this place might be.

They sat in silence for what seemed like an age and when nothing was said, Rouge stirred and looked at Knuckles, who still seemed to be in his own world.

"Isn't there a way you can find out where this place is?" Rouge asked, turning to Eggman.

"Well…there is a possibility. But /_only/_ a possibility, it all depends on how powerful this computer is." Eggman walked up to the keyboard and started tapping on it. "It might be able to scan Knuckles' brainwaves and using the ones of the images in his head, it /_could/_ work out a location. But only if the place is fairly significant, it won't be able to find it if it's in a swamp somewhere." Tails seemed to have got the idea and he grinned in excitement.

"Yes, that could work. Knuckles can you remember anything about the place? Climate, landscape…"

"Well it was a mountain and there was snow and pine trees… There wasn't much else." He shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a start. From the sounds of things, it must be in the northern hemisphere as there is snow and pine trees." Eggman continued to tap keys when he suddenly said "Aha!" in a triumphant tone.

"Is there something you can do?" Rouge said.

"Yes, this computer must have been used to measure Shadow's brainwaves at one point and it has a database full of images of various places. It should be easy to get the two together…"

Soon it was done and the electrodes were placed on either side of Knuckles' head, much to his disgust.

"Are you quite sure this is necessary?" He demanded as he sat down in a chair.

"Yes, yes. Now just relax and keep the image in your head ok?" Eggman said as the computer activated, patterns going across the screen.

They waited uneasily in silence as the computer went through Knuckles' brain scans, trying to find the location of his images. It could take days and they didn't have that much time left, they had to be as quick as they could so they could find Sonic and Shadow. Knuckles tried to keep as still as he could but he felt uncomfortable with the electrodes attached to his head. Technology always made him edgy like that. He couldn't understand Tails and his love of machinery, how he could spend days in a small room with lots of metal, trying to get something to work.

Knuckles didn't even like metal that much; it was so cold and clinical. There was no texture to it, no warmth. In fact, until he met Sonic, Knuckles had never seen anything metallic and remembered the fear he felt when he saw Tails' planes for the first time and Eggman and his robots. That fear had faded slightly, but not completely. It never would but Knuckles hid it, knowing that as a protector, he wasn't meant to feel fear. Or any emotion at all for that matter…

But things had changed; he was now in love with Rouge. Or he was pretty certain it was love. The problem was, he didn't know anyone who had been in love before and it had never happened to him before. He wasn't sure what he was meant to feel but for now, he didn't care.

The group sat to attention when they heard the computer beep and the wavy lines on the screen had stopped.

"Location has been identified." The machine announced and a map came up on the screen. 'Scotland' could be seen in large letters and a red box appeared on the left hand side, enlarging what was in it. They saw a group of mountains and right in the middle was the name 'Aonach Mor', only a short distance from Ben Nevis, the largest mountain in Britain.

"Scotland? Seems a strange place for them to be." Eggman commented but Knuckles sat up, staring at the screen intently.

"They're there, I know it." He said assertively and Eggman shrugged his shoulders.

"As long as you're sure…" But Knuckles wasn't listening, he was using this as an excuse to take the electrodes off.

As Tails thought about Scotland, he was reminded that Marie was down there too, waiting for him to tell her any news. He knew that the others would tell him not to bother but he had promised her and she was too close a friend to break a promise.

"Hey guys, can you wait a minute? I want to phone Marie." He said. Eggman sighed silently, he knew that Marie was important to him and he probably wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Ok then but don't take too long, we have no time to lose." Tails nodded his head in understanding as he dialled her number.

"Hello, Marie speaking."

"Hi Marie, it's Tails."

"Tails! I'm glad you called, I was getting really worried. Did you manage to find Sonic and Shadow?" She asked.

"Yeah, they're up in Scotland. We were just going there to have a look around so I thought I had better call you." There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Tails, I don't want to you to go. You mean too much to me for me to let you go and get yourself hurt. Do you have to go?" She said sadly.

"Marie, Sonic is my best friend. I'm not going to let him die."

"Then at least let me go with you. I know I've never done anything like this before but I really want to help." Tails closed his eyes then looked over to where the others were.

"Marie, I'm not sure that's a good idea-"

"Please Tails…"

"Look Marie, you can't come. You know you can't come." Tails could hear her breathing in deeply, trying to stop herself from crying. "I'm sorry. We have to go home briefly anyway so I'll see you then ok?"

"Don't bother." She snarled before hanging up.

Tails sighed loudly and turned to the others, shaking his head as he headed to where the walkers were being kept.

"Hey Tails, is Marie ok?" Rouge asked quietly, running to catch up with him.

"Of course not, she's totally mad at me." Tails snapped.

"Tails, I don't see why you won't let her come. She may not have had any experience but I know she can help." She said and Tails stopped walking.

"I'm not letting her come because I don't want her to get hurt. Plus the others would never agree." He glanced back at Knuckles and Eggman and Rouge did the same.

"Just see what happens ok?" He nodded his head.

"What did she say Tails?" Eggman asked, him and Knuckles reaching where they stood in front of the walkers.

"She wanted to come with us…" Tails muttered.

"Did she?" Tails watched Eggman's face but couldn't decipher what he was thinking.

"I said she couldn't." He added shortly, jumping into the Tornado.

"Oh." Eggman said noncommittally, also getting into his walker.

They got back to London and while Tails and Eggman waited for Knuckles and Rouge to get their upgrades, Tails stood on the balcony staring out over the park. Marie's abrupt finish to their conversation had hurt him a lot, why couldn't she understand his wish for her to be safe? To be perfectly honest, not only would she be safe, if she came she would only be a hindrance to their mission. It was important they reached Sonic and Shadow as quickly as they could and they could all be quick, well he wasn't sure about Eggman, but that wasn't the point. Marie just had no idea what would be involved; especially from the way Knuckles had acted earlier when describing what he had seen.

Tails looked up when he heard this name being said and he found Eggman looking at him with concern.

"What are you thinking about Tails?" He thought about this and realised there was no point in lying. It's not like it mattered anyway.

"Marie." He said shortly, turning to look in the direction of her house.

"Because you won't let her come along?"

"Yeah. She got really mad about it. It's not like we promised her she could come along with us."

"Tails, why are you being so hard on her? Do you think that we won't let her come along?" The bluntness of what he had just said made Tails hopeful.

"So…/_you/_ would let her come along then?"

"Why not? The mission could be dangerous for her but she's friends with them too."

"I don't want her to get hurt." Tails said quickly.

"She doesn't want /_you/_ to get hurt either but that's not stopping you from going is it?"

"Sonic is my best friend!"

"You're Marie's best friend! Go and talk to her."

"I can't, she doesn't want me to."

"And that matters because…?" Eggman was right, it didn't matter. Tails hopped up onto the balcony and flew into the sky.

"I'll be back soon!" He yelled at Eggman as he flew away.

Tails landed in front of Marie's house and stood by the gate, looking up to where her bedroom was. He walked up to the door and knocked on it, wondering if she would answer it. The door opened and he was surprised to see Gillian standing there.

"Oh hi Tails, I assume you want Marie?" She smiled kindly at him.

"Yeah, if she'll talk to me that is." He replied.

"Of course she will, she's just upset that's all. Go on up, you know where her room is." He walked up the stairs to her room and knocked on the door softly.

"Who is it?" He heard her say, her voice muffled by the door.

"Can I come in?" Tails asked. A small gap appeared in the door and Marie's face appeared in it.

"Tails?" She stood back from the door and let him in, sitting back in her chair facing away from him.

"Marie, I wanted to see you before I went."

"Why? What were you going to say? 'Oh hi Marie, I just wanted to say goodbye because I might never see you again'? I don't want to hear it Tails."

"Is that why you're angry? You don't think I'm going to live through this?" He went over to her and hugged her from behind. "I'm sorry Marie, I didn't realise you felt that way."

"/_You're/_ sorry? Don't joke with me Tails, if you were sorry then you wouldn't be going." She started crying before pushing him away.

"I have to go Marie, the life of my best friend is at stake here." She sat on the bed, her face in her hands and Tails sat beside her, holding her in his arms.

"Don't I matter? Please let me come with you." She whispered, putting her arms around him too. He turned her head so she was facing him and kissed her softly on the lips.

"Ok then, you can come." He murmured, pulling back quickly when she wound away from his touch.

"Tails! What's got into you?" She asked.

"I don't know, I just felt I had to do it." He said quickly, blushing slightly.

"I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

"I don't think I am either." He stood up, holding her hand. "Come on, we have to go now."

They made their way down the stairs and found Gillian standing at the bottom.

"Are you going then?" She asked quietly, looking surprised when Marie hugged her.

"Yeah, I'm going." Marie said. "I'll miss you." She added.

"I'm going to miss you too." Gillian said, opening the door for them. "Look after her Tails, ok?" He nodded his head and they left the house.

They made their way back to the apartment and found Knuckles, Rouge and Eggman waiting by the walkers.

"There you are Tails, we were just about to go and look for you." Eggman said.

"I didn't know Marie was coming." Knuckles whispered to Rouge.

"Yeah, she is." Rouge spotted the look on his face. "Don't be too hard on her ok?" Knuckles nodded his head and they got into the walkers.

They landed in front of the mountain that Knuckles had seen and while the others waited by the machines, Knuckles looked around, trying to remember where the entrance was. Suddenly he saw it, a crack wide enough for a person to squeeze into. He peered into it and saw a set of stairs leading downwards. He placed his foot on the first step but didn't go any further when he heard Rouge yell out,

"Have you found it yet Knuckles?" He turned around and walked quickly back to the others.

"Yeah, it's just over there. What are you going to do about your walkers?" He asked Tails and Eggman. They turned to look at them and Eggman shrugged his shoulders.

"We'll just have to leave them here I suppose. There probably isn't enough room to get them through the entrance." Tails looked slightly worried at this but Eggman didn't seem bothered as he jumped into his and moved it under some trees. "They'll be protected here." Tails reluctantly did the same and they walked over to the entrance.

"Wow, it's quite small isn't it? I hope it gets bigger." Marie commented. _It's also extremely dark._ She added to herself, gulping slightly.

"Bloody hell, it's dark in here." Rouge said loudly, stepping in after Marie. "Luckily there's a torch here we can use."

"It's almost like someone's expecting us…" Eggman muttered as the torch was passed to him. Nobody said anything as he led them down the stairs into the unknown…

They had been walking for some time now, and so far, nothing had happened to them. The stairs had eventually ended and now they were walking along a tunnel, which didn't get any bigger, and didn't get any smaller. As Eggman had commented, this meant that someone had made this tunnel and they wondered if someone was still there. Apart from this, they had remained totally silent as though saying too much would wake the place up. Which didn't make any sense…

Suddenly, something rose up in front of them. It was an arch, but bigger than any of them had seen before. It appeared to have been carved out of the rocks around them and someone had taken a lot of time and effort over the patterns. Flames licked along the bottom, intertwining with each other and brushing the heels of the strangest creatures.

They were like pigs but stood on two legs and the leers on their faces made the group afraid. It wasn't so much what they looked like but the looks they had on their faces, only wild animals ever looked like that. A hunger for something, not just for food but for power as well. They carried lances and appeared to be dancing, and the shadows caused by the flickering flames made them move in and out of the arch.

At the top was a…well, it was hard to describe. It wasn't a person, not even an animal. It looked like it was made out of flames and two cold eyes stared out, looking to one side. It changed though, slowly. Now it had a mouth and the eyes turned towards them…

"Whoa!" Tails shouted and he stumbled backwards, causing the others to turn around in surprise.

"Are you all right Tails?" Knuckles asked, staring at him with concern as he helped him up.

"That face, the eyes…" Tails gasped in fright.

"What face? What eyes?" Tails frowned when he heard this and he looked up. The face had gone, now there was only the outline of it.

"Didn't…anyone see it?" He pointed up and the others noticed the shape for the first time.

"I don't see a face there Tails. Maybe it was just the light. After all, it does make this place look spooky." Marie said comfortingly but Tails wasn't consoled.

"It does seem strange… Who would take the time to carve this but not take care of the rest of the place?" Rouge asked, stepping towards the arch to get a better look. She reached out to touch it but snatched her hand back when she felt something cold going up her arm.

"What's happening?" Marie cried out in fear as they heard something moving rapidly up the tunnel.

The wind hit them so hard that they were knocked over and they struggled to not get blown away when the torch went out. Instantly plunged into darkness, the wind roared at them, literally; like something had just spotted them and now they were going to get killed. It died down gradually and the group sat up slowly, totally disorientated by the blackness surrounding them.

"Is everyone ok?" Eggman asked and once it was verified that they were, they managed to find each other with the aid of a lighter that Rouge always kept with her for emergencies.

"We should get going quickly, this lighter won't last much longer without burning me." Rouge pointed out.

"We were going this way." Knuckles said, his night sight taking over. He grabbed Rouge's hand and forming a chain, the five of them continued along the tunnel, Knuckles leading the way.

S. Chensu: Ooh ee, exciting!

Luff: If you thought that was exciting, just wait until the next episode! Lots of things happening such as-

S. Chensu: Shush! Don't tell them what's going to happen!

Luff: Oops. Anyway, review sometime if you can before the next episode is up.


	17. Cracks alert!

Luff: And here is episode seventeen!

S. Chensu: We know it's not very long but there is one /major/ event which will affect the plot quite a lot.

Luff: So it is worth it.

S. Chensu: Anyway, as usual, we don't own the Sonic characters. We only own Marie, the story and the place.

Luff: Now that that's done, time for reviewer replies:

Dragon Master Naya- Yes, something bad is going to happen, just don't kill us for it! And yes, we can see what you mean by the Jaws' theme playing. Although it would ruin the plot if Jaws did come along and eat one of them.

RichaCo- We're glad you feel excited about it, so are we! The story is finally getting into the swing of things! We can't tell you what's going to happen but hopefully it'll be exciting! And you'll find out a little bit more about the place in episode 18.

Yugi- Ooh don't, you're making us embarrassed! 'Gripping' and 'excellent'? Are you reading the same story? And detail? This is one of the shortest chapters yet! The only reason it's that long is because we spent so much time describing the place. And not even that well… Luff hasn't done much of her story but she'll have the chapter done by the weekend hopefully. And Sonic says "Yeah this is perfect" in SA2 too, when you get an A at the end of a level.

????- I love the poem, great use of rhyming and the way the sentence is carried onto the next line, makes it flow very well. Obviously the poet feels… Sorry about that, S. Chensu's English Literature brain got in the way. But nice poem. I think I know who you are (Yugi) and please don't kill Bakura! He may have been a bit playful at ice-skating but that wasn't his fault! And Ryou (shudder) is not pathetic! Yugi is! At least Ryou isn't four foot tall!

S. Chensu: There, done. Onto the episode!

**Episode seventeen: Cracks alert!**

They walked along in darkness until they saw flickering torches ahead. As they got closer, the brightness increased and soon they could make out where they were. The cave was so high that they couldn't see the top and there were holes and stalactites littering it. It was dry though and there was a layer of dust on the ground. It had obviously not been disturbed for many years and the air was musty too. Torches hung on the walls, seeming to burn with an infinite flame and they cast ever-moving shadows on the area. These shadows made the group themselves look sinister, like they were constantly moving. In the gloom, the group could see that the cave split into various paths, which must go to other parts of this strange place.

"How come no one's ever noticed a place like this before?" Tails asked.

"It doesn't look like anyone's been here for a long time…" Eggman commented.

"Yes, it's all dusty. I wonder if anyone lives here?" Marie pondered.

"Who would live here? There's no light, no food, no water…" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Well we don't know that for sure. Whoever does live here though has obviously got a big ego." Rouge pointed out.

"Yeah, remember that arch? All those carvings on it… I wonder what those pig things are though?" Marie said.

"They must live here too. Do you think they're friendly?"

"I don't think they are. I mean, if they were friendly, they wouldn't hide themselves…"

"Maybe they're just shy…"

"That's not very likely though Marie, is it? They probably eat anything which is unfortunate to stumble into this place."

"I just hope we don't meet any of them, whether they're friendly or not. The less hassle we have finding Sonic and Shadow, the better." This reminder of why they were here seemed to make the group more aware of where they were.

"Which way do you think we should we go?" They looked around and spotted the paths.

As the group stood in the cave discussing the various paths, Rouge had fallen into silence, too busy thinking to herself.

_Should I tell him how I feel? I'm so confused and it's like I can't talk to him because he won't understand…_ She sighed in frustration. _But it does concern him and if I don't tell him I'm only going to regret it._ She nodded her head as she made her decision. She looked at Knuckles who was staring at her with concern. _Does he have to look at me like that? This is going to be hard…_ She shifted her weight and leaned towards Knuckles.

"Knuckles, I think we need to talk." Rouge said and they stood a little apart from the rest of the group.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"I think we need a break from each other." She whispered. Knuckles looked up sharply.

"What do you mean?"

"Knuckles, I love being with you but sometimes I wonder if I can return your affections. I don't think I'm ready for the relationship you want." She explained. Knuckles stood quiet for a few moments and Rouge looked at the ground.

"So you think we should break-" But Rouge interrupted him.

"Only for a couple of weeks…" She said quickly.

"Will you not interrupt me?" He glared at her and she looked away. "You want us to break up?" Her eyes widened at his misunderstanding.

"No, that's not what I meant at all Knuckles!" He continued to talk though, ignoring her.

"So you just used me eh? And now you're going to throw me away?" His voice had risen.

"Knuckles will you shut up? Do you just ignore what people say on purpose? I haven't been using you; I just need time to think about what's happening." She was shouting to match his volume. This attracted the others who stopped talking to listen.

"Why are you lying? I thought after all this time we could be honest to each other… Oh yeah I forgot, you just want me to disregard what has taken place between us!"

"What are you talking about? I never said that, and anyway, how have I used you?"

"You pretended you loved me just so you could fuel your own pompous attitude!" He had gone red with anger and as his eyes flashed, she felt tears start to prick her eyes.

"Why can't you understand what I'm trying to say? I don't want us to break up, I just need to be alone…"

"Well you can have as much time alone as you want because I never want to see you again!" Hearing this, Rouge gasped and turned on her heel, running as fast as she could.

Knuckles glowered after her for a few moments before he walked off in the opposite direction. Tails, Marie and Eggman stood in silence for what seemed like hours, shocked by what had happened.

"Do you think we should go after them?" Marie asked.

"What's the use? We have to stick together, no matter what has gone on between them two." Tails replied.

"I think we should go straight ahead so we can search a wider area." Eggman suggested. They walked forward and out of the gloom appeared an arch. Eggman, who was in the front, crossed it first. The others went to follow him but they couldn't.

"What's going on?" Marie asked.

"Why can't you get through?" Eggman turned back to them and crossed the arch again. Tails walked forward slowly and put his hands out. They connected with an invisible barrier and no matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't get through.

When Eggman walked through the arch, he succeeded but Marie and Tails were still stuck.

"Maybe we're not meant to be together…" Eggman remarked.

_She also told me that everyone would be split apart…_ The conversation between him and Shadow suddenly flashed in Tails' mind. _This is what he meant…_ He thought as he looked at Marie and Eggman. "I think you're right Eggman. You go that way and me and Marie will find another path. Good luck, whatever happens…"

"And the same to you two too." Eggman replied before continuing down the path.

"Tails, I'm scared. And not just about this but I'm worried about Knuckles and Rouge too." Marie whispered.

"I am too Marie. We can only hope for the best…"

"I mean I'm worried that it might happen to us." Tails turned to her sharply.

"Why do you say that?" He frowned, why did she compare them to them? They weren't together, as such.

"Everyone who knew them two could tell that they were in love and now that this has happened…" She tailed off.

"Well, if there is one thing I always try and do, it's keep my promises. So I promise to you that I will never forget you, whatever happens."

"And I promise the same thing plus I swear that I will try to understand what you mean." They hugged to seal their new pledge.

"We had better find the paths for us." He said and they looked around.

They found a set of stairs leading downwards and Marie stood at the top of them.

"I feel that this is your road Marie." Tails said. She nodded her head and taking a deep breath, she walked down them. Tails remained where he was until she had gone and sighed. "I suppose now I have to find my path." He suddenly realised that there was a brick road behind the set of stairs and he walked forward slowly. When nothing stopped him, he steadied his hands and set off resolutely along it.

The cave remained empty for a few moments before two people appeared in the middle of it. They couldn't be distinguished in the murkiness as they talked.

"So it has finally started…" One murmured.

"But when will it end?" The other whispered. One ran off after Rouge while the other strode down the brick path. The only thing they left behind that could tell anyone that they had been there was a single, black feather. It shined in the light as the torches continued to burn, providing little brightness to the darkness of the underworld.

Luff: Nice and short.

S. Chensu: This is what we meant by the episodes getting shorter. Most of them will be around this length, apart from the ones with Sonic and Shadow, which are about double the length.

Luff: Which is still pretty short. But as we said, we're putting them up quicker so that should make up for it.

S. Chensu: Before we go, an important note on how the story is going to change. As you may have noticed (if you've just read the above episode, which you should have done if you're reading this), the group have now been split apart.

Luff: So the next lot of episodes are done with two from two characters before a Sonic and Shadow episodes. For example:

Episode 18: Sonic and Shadow

Episode 19: Tails

Episode 20: Eggman

Episode 21: Sonic and Shadow

S. Chensu: Note that this is not the actual episode plan. Apart from episodes 18 and 21 are Sonic and Shadow ones. As you can imagine, this means quite a lot of episodes.

Luff: So until next time, review and enjoy life!


	18. The terror known as smelly cabbages

S. Chensu: Another episode of the STREKS gang and not much to say. 

Luff: Today's episode will show what happens to Sonic and Shadow as well as finding out more about the mysterious characters from episode 15!

S. Chensu: Time for reviewer replies:

Yugi and Mai- We love your poem, it's really great. But I would like to point out Yugi is not 5'5''; he's only 5'. And "thee" means you, not me. Despite the fact they rhyme. And thanks for telling us about your bodily functions Mai… And as for when S. Chensu's Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction will be up, as soon as she's finished chapter six. Which is getting too long so it won't be done for another two weeks or so. Plus the fact she has lovely Biology coursework to do…

Dragon Master Naya- In response to your review, we can only say 00 too. Why do you want a feather? We don't get it…

RichaCo- We're sorry for breaking them up but don't worry, everything will be ok! And now that everyone's been split up, lots of strange things will start to happen. Such as the appearance of a four foot tall grim reaper called Gregg…

Luff: Time for the disclaimer. We don't own the characters; we only own the story, Marie, Shaylea and Kensa.

S. Chensu: A new character's going to be introduced today. And his name is…

Luff: Gregg! From the game "Conker's Bad Fur Day"! If you have it, you'll understand us when we say it's brilliant! But if you don't, oh well. Our description is a bit poor though, so you can either look on Google for a picture or send us an email (check our profile for address) and we'll send you one!

S. Chensu: This means we need to add to our disclaimer the fact we don't own Gregg either. Rareware (boo hoo, went to Microsoft!) do.

Luff: anyway, it's time to get on with the show! 

Episode eighteen: The terror known as…smelly cabbages 

"Where am I?" Sonic groaned as he woke up. He rubbed his head where he had been knocked out and sat up slowly. The first thing he noticed was how cold and murky it was and he hugged himself to keep warm. As his eyes grew used to the darkness, he realised he was high above the ground. He also found out that he was in a small birdcage, which hung from the ceiling by a chain. He stood up slowly and grabbed for a bar to support himself from. He couldn't move much though, which he found out was because of a chain that was attached to his ankle. "What's going on? Is anyone there?" He shouted and he heard a reply, quite near to him.

"Sonic! Where are you?" It was Shadow.

"Quite near by, by the sound of things. Are you in a cage by any chance?"

"I can't tell, it's too dark in here."

"Then maybe we had better sort that out." They heard a voice announce and they looked around, trying to find the owner of it. A crackling sound was heard and something made of fire stood below them. It rose into the air and flew around the room, lighting torches and warming up the air. It landed on the ground and they could both see their surroundings properly.

They were in a large dungeon made of grey bricks and a sandy floor. The place was bare and they found that they were only five feet away from each other. There were two people standing at the bottom but it was hard to tell what they looked like.

"Who are you? Why are we here?" Sonic yelled angrily.

"Tut, tut, who's being impatient? We shall have to show them who's boss." One of them said.

"Do we have to? I don't want to hurt them too much." The other replied.

"Shut up and take us up there will you?" The first one threatened. The second person sighed and the room started to rumble. Sonic and Shadow saw a chunk of the ground rise into the air until the two people were at the same level as Sonic and Shadow. They walked forward and they could be seen accurately for the first time.

They were both girls, one about 16 and the other about 14. The 14 year old was the one who had threatened the other. Her eyes were brown as was her hair, which was loose. She wore a purple strappy top with a lilac star in the middle. Her trousers were cream and flared, with a large split at the bottom of each leg. Her boots were knee length and black. She carried a red trident with a pattern curving around it. Her most noticeable features though were the horns on her head and her tail. It swished as she studied them hostilely.

The older girl had one outstanding feature: her wings. They were black like crow's and stood a metre on either side of her. Her hair was a cherry colour and part of it was twisted into two buns. Her eyes were purple with silver flecks and they sparkled. Her top was held in place by a collar, which joined the rest at the front. It was purple with silver sequins going diagonally across it. Her skirt reached half way down the bottom part of her leg and had a frilled edge, which formed a small split up the front. It was the same colour as her top and was crowned with a thin silver belt. It had five sections, which hung down and were split by metallic blue disks. Her shoes were high heeled with shiny black sequins on the straps.

"Well? I'm waiting!" Sonic said. The younger girl hissed in anger and stepped forward.

"Just remember you're the prisoner here. I am Kensa and this is Shaylea. As for why you're here…" Her voice was harsh and bitter.

"We don't really know to be honest. We're just motley minions here." Unlike Kensa's voice, Shaylea's was light and soft.

"I thought I told you to be quiet! Yes that may be true but I don't see why we can't have a little fun first…"

"Well you go ahead, I'm not bothered." Shaylea crossed her arms and was given an evil look. "You may well look at me like that but just remember that I didn't want this in the first place." Kensa continued to stare at her and she suddenly cried out in pain. "Ok, ok, I'll do it!"

"At full power remember?" Kensa said.

"No, I'm not going to kill them!" But she cried out again. "Whatever you want, just don't hurt me anymore." Kensa smiled and Shaylea started to sob silently.

"I'll let you go first then." Shaylea looked at Kensa.

"Do I have to do full power? If they die then we'll be in big trouble. Can't you use your full power instead? You won't kill them then." She whispered.

"That's a point, we mustn't kill them. You will help me though, won't you?"

"If I must." Shaylea sighed as Kensa walked forward.

"I'm going to enjoy this…" She chuckled as she stopped walking.

She held out her hands and closed her eyes. The words 'Psychic Wind' were whispered and Sonic and Shadow clutched their heads in pain. It felt like someone had smashed them in the head with a hammer repeatedly. Sonic stumbled but was pulled over by the chain on his ankle.

"Kensa, stop! I think you're killing them! Please…I…" Shaylea stumbled, trying to think. "I know! Kensa let me have a go! You're hogging them." She said, wincing at her words. The pain stopped and Shadow collapsed in relief. Shaylea walked forward and Kensa stepped to the side. "I'm sorry you two but I couldn't think of anything else." She whispered. She held her hands out and a ball of fire formed in between them. They backed away in fright as the ball split in two and started to spin around the cages.

"Please stop this! Why are you doing this to us?" Sonic yelled as he closed his eyes.

"What's going on? Stop this right now!" They heard a voice resonate through the room. Sonic felt the pain fade slightly and he opened his eyes.

The fire had stopped and Shaylea and Kensa were back on the ground. Sonic looked over at Shadow who was gazing at him in shock.

"Sonic, are you ok? You look like you're going to fall apart any moment." Sonic looked at himself and saw that he was now black instead of blue.

"I don't know, I can't really feel anything." Sonic admitted and they both looked down as the ground rose once more.

There was another person now with Shaylea and Kensa. It turned out to be a four feet tall grim reaper. It held a megaphone in one hand and a scythe in the other as it studied them.

"Bloody cats! If there's one thing I hate, it's cats! Why did you bother torturing them? They'll only come back." It said in a high-pitched voice. Sonic and Shadow exchanged worried looks.

"Gregg, these aren't cats! They're hedgehogs." Shaylea said.

"Hedgehogs eh? I like them, only one life. Anyway, I wasn't even talking about that!" He turned to them. "You have to be more careful! What if I was one of the Arcs? You would be dead by now."

"We forgot, ok? It doesn't look too suspicious does it?" Kensa asked.

"No, it looks like you've tried to kill them!" He said.

"Excuse me but what's going on? First you throw cabbages at us, then you burn us and now you're talking to a dwarf grim reaper!" Shadow said.

"A dwarf? How dare you insult me! I'll have you know I'm the /_only/_ grim reaper." Gregg puffed out his chest.

"Sorry but we can't explain. You'll just have to accept things the way they are." Kensa said.

"Wait, maybe they can help us! Come on Kensa, I'm sure they would!" Shaylea said.

"Help you in what? You're starting from the middle instead of the beginning." Sonic said.

"It wouldn't hurt to tell them I suppose." Kensa grumbled. "We have captured you by order of the big boss for unknown reasons. You are now prisoners until you die just like us."

"Not everyone does things because they want to. We're not here because we want to. We've tried to rebel against the system but we've never had the support we need. We don't know who to trust here. And if we don't destroy you, someone else will. There's not much hope here." Shaylea continued.

"We've been helped by past prisoners but they're never strong enough. And we've had to pay the price too many times. Shaylea, I don't want to risk everyone's lives again." Kensa shook her head. Gregg, who had been looking at them suddenly gasped.

"I've just realised something. Shaylea, didn't the Book say something about hedgehogs?"

"Don't tell me you still believe in that!" Kensa said scornfully.

"Wait a minute, Gregg has a point. Now I think about it, there is something about them. But are they the same ones?" Shaylea asked.

"Excuse me but 'they' are here you know. When you are ready to explain…" Shadow said.

"We shall have to test them, that is the only way." Gregg said, ignoring Shadow.

"In their condition? In case you hadn't noticed, I've just fried them and Kensa's tried to turn their brains into mush." Shaylea pointed out.

"That's the whole point. They should still be able to run, even now." Gregg said.

"Run? Of course we can run, who do you think we are?" Sonic asked.

"We don't know or we would have called you by your names." Kensa highlighted.

"Well I'm Sonic and this is Shadow." He pointed to himself and Shadow.

"And would you help us?" Gregg asked.

"If you tell us everything that's going on." Shadow crossed his arms.

"We'll take that as a yes. We need to see how fast you can run first." Shaylea said.

"How can we? We /are/ in cages." Sonic said.

"We're going to let you out and if you're fast enough, you should be able to avoid our attacks." She explained. Kensa clicked her fingers and the cage doors opened. Their chains also broke and they walked out onto the ground.

"Sonic, you might want these…" Shadow held all of his upgrades in his hands. Sonic took them and put them on.

"Thanks Shadow." Kensa stepped forward, holding a bunch of stones in midair.

"Hailing Stones!" She shouted and they started to fall on Sonic and Shadow.

They began to run and soon remember what it felt like to have to escape things. They were going well until they heard Shaylea shout out:

"Water Cannon!" Hearing this, Sonic stopped and was hit by stone. He fell to the ground, face down in water.

"Water? I can't swim!" The water was rising fast and Sonic, not being able to swim, started to sink.

"Shaylea, stop the water! I don't think they can swim!" Kensa shouted.

"Oh crap!" Shaylea said and quickly made the water disappear. Sonic, who had swallowed a mouthful, was coughing badly. She ran to where Sonic was while Kensa went to a cupboard. She took out two blankets and handed one to Shadow, the other to Shaylea who wrapped Sonic up.

"Are you ok?" Kensa asked Shadow.

"Yes but I'm more worried about Sonic. He seems to have panicked which didn't help him." Shadow replied. By now Sonic had stopped coughing.

"I think you should have had swimming lessons when you were younger." Kensa commented.

"But think about all that chlorine, it does hell to your fur you know. And a hedgehog as good looking as me can't afford that." Sonic said, which caused Shaylea to snort with laughter.

"Just ignore him; the water's made him disillusioned." Shadow said.

"You don't say… I think we'd better get you something to eat though." Gregg thought for a moment. "Hedgehogs like worms and cat food, don't they?" He asked, a sinister grin on his face.

"Gregg, these aren't normal hedgehogs. And you are not going to get the food either, I don't trust you." Shaylea scolded.

"I promise I won't do anything bad…" He pleaded.

"No! Kensa can get the food; you can help me put them back. I think they need food and some kip. Their wounds need time to heal and it happens best in sleep. Don't sulk; you know it's for the best. I'm sure you don't want to eat worms or cat food do you?" Shaylea asked Sonic and Shadow.

"Well not really thanks. What's going to happen now?" Shadow inquired.

"You were doing very well until the water thing. I'm sorry but I didn't realise you couldn't swim." Shaylea said.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We weren't hurt so it doesn't matter." Sonic said.

As they were being led to their cages, Shadow by Gregg and Sonic by Shaylea, Gregg asked,

"Are you sure you don't want a few worms, they're awfully nice."

"Definitely not, I'd prefer normal food thanks." Shadow replied quickly. Gregg shrugged his shoulders and Shadow sat down in the cage.

Kensa came back with food and as they were eating, they talked about various things.

"I can definitely say that they are not normal hedgehogs. I think we should also do some explaining. Long ago, a person predicted a lot of things and wrote them down in a book called the Book of Knowledge. We have only found it recently and we have been reading it to find out what it contains. One part mentions two hedgehogs who would finally be able to defeat the big boss and restore peace to the place." Shaylea said.

"And you think we're the hedgehogs?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, we do. We've been waiting a long time, hoping that the prophecies might have even an ounce of truth and maybe we'll soon find out if they have."

"But what about the big boss? Who is he?" Shadow asked.

"He rules over this whole place and keeps us prisoner here. None of us have ever seen him; few have who have lived to tell the tale. All we know is that he is the greatest fear of all heroes." Kensa explained.

_You will face your greatest fear… _These words came back to Shadow as he was listening._ So we are meant to help them…_

"Hang on a minute, I've just suddenly thought of something. What about our friends? Do you know where they are?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, they're looking for you of course. We haven't seen them but maybe we will soon. That may not be a good thing though." Shaylea replied.

"Why not?"

"Because they may be dead." Gregg grinned.

"Gregg, I know you like things best when they're dead but there's no need to grin like that." Shaylea scolded.

"Yes but I grin naturally, it's not my fault."

"But you have that particular grin on. Sorry about that, we're worried about your friends too. We'll see what we can do to help but we can't get caught. Therefore you're going to have to stay in the cages for the moment." She looked apologetic.

"I can understand why." Shadow yawned widely and shook himself. "Thank you for the food."

"That's ok. I think it's time for you to go to sleep now. Kensa, you have the honour…" She stood up and Shadow looked panicky.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you…" She soothed and dust fell on Sonic and Shadow. They slumped to the ground asleep and Shaylea tucked them in before closing the doors.

"Kensa, do you really think we can succeed?" Shaylea asked.

"Only time can tell. For now it is important to see how their friends are doing. Gregg, I want you to re read the book and see how much you can find out." Kensa said to him.

"Fine, but will you two be ok? If you're caught then…"

"Don't worry we'll be careful. We can't afford to slip up now." Kensa replied. Shaylea pushed the ground back down and blew out the torches before leaving the room with Kensa and Gregg.

Luff: The end of the episode.

S. Chensu: Remember the next one is up on Sunday 27th March.

Luff: But until then, please review!


	19. Cliff top mission

Luff: EEK! We've put it up late! 

S. Chensu: No, /you/ put it up late. I had work on Sunday and was knackered by the time I got home. You could have put it up.

Luff: Um, I was too lazy?

S. Chensu: Sigh Never mind. It's up now.

Luff: Phew! Anyway, time for reviewer replies:

crimson-88- Thanks for the review! Gregg won't actually look for them himself; it's mainly Shaylea and Kensa. We're usually a couple of episodes ahead anyway so if we get writer's block, we'll have some backups. This episode is focusing on Rouge. The episode after that is Knuckles! (How did you guess?)

RichaCo- Yep, this story is going to get complicated but when you read some of the later episodes, you can see some connections. Tails, Eggman and Marie will come up in time but for now it's Rouge. As for what happens to Rouge and Knuckles, we can't tell you or it'll spoil the plot!

The sleeping Yugi, Mai and some other Yamis too- Hope Yugi had a nice sleep and that him and Yami didn't get up to anything too naughty! But anyway, thanks for looking at S. Chensu's two Yu-Gi-Oh! stories, she'll put them up when she has chapter six done of Figure 0.9 and part five of the as yet nameless story. Luff will tell you at school when Chen is putting them up.

Dragon Master Naya- Well, I suppose it could have been crickets but worms sounded funnier! And plus, there's this bit on Conker's Bad Fur Day (where Gregg comes from) where you have to dodge these big squirrel eating worms. It sort of comes from that. And as for your request, here you go hands Dragon Master Naya a shiny, black, pretty feather to play with. It's yours to keep (seeing as some of the others have one too) until you need a new one.

S. Chensu: Anyway, don't own the Sonic characters but own the story and the place. And Marie too. 

Luff: Shut up and let them read!

Episode nineteen: Cliff top mission 

Rouge was so angry and upset over what had happened she never noticed the portal and went straight into it. She was transported to the top of a cliff where she suddenly realised what was happening.

"What? Where am I? It's all his fault, that naïve, insolent…" She fumed as she looked around. On one side was the sea and on the other was an infinite amount of grass. The sky was cloudy and the waves were very foamy. Noticing a light, she looked at it and perceived a tall building. The wind was strong and as she stood there, she thought she heard it say something.

_Make for the building…_ She turned around, trying to find the person but no one was there.

"What was that? Never mind, I suppose going to that place won't hurt…" She said as she walked forward.

No sooner had she moved than something flew down from the sky. Looking up, she saw a seagull heading straight for her and ran out of the way. It squawked in anger as it rose in the air and Rouge slowed down.

"Killer seagulls? And cold weather! I don't think it can get any worse…" Just then, it started to rain. "Now it's raining? Great!" She used her wings as an umbrella and she ran towards a small clump of trees ahead. She entered and shook herself dry. She looked to where the building was and sighed. "It's going to take ages to get there…maybe I can stay here until the rain passes." She sat herself down and stared at the rain coming down. "Look at yourself Rouge, everything was going all right until you met Knuckles…"

As she said this, a bolt of lightning shot through the sky. The rumble came shortly afterwards and Rouge sighed.

"I know what you mean. And now, I'm pompous and a user. Plus I'm caught in a rain storm under some trees." A tear ran down her face as she thought of Knuckles. "Why do I care anyway? He insulted me and deliberately misunderstood me too."

"But did he? I thought he was good at misinterpreting what people said…" A voice said above her.

"Who's there?" She shouted as she jumped up. A shadow stood in the trees but when she tried to fly up there, it disappeared. "I wonder what that was about…" She shrugged her shoulders and sat down again. "Does that person have a point though? He can take things in the wrong way…but that doesn't mean he had to be so hurtful." She took out the shard of the Master Emerald and held it in her hand. She stared at it, not thinking about much in particular. As she sat there, an image suddenly came into her head.

Knuckles stood at the top of a range of mountains. The sun shone brightly in the sky and he held onto the rock as he stared out over the mountains. He held the Master Emerald in his hand and she noticed that he seemed to be staring not at the mountains but the gap in it. He shook his head and put the Emerald away before making his way downwards.

The woods came back to Rouge and she looked around, trying to understand what had just happened.

"What was that all about? That must be where he is now… But he doesn't matter to me anymore. It's all for the best, it must be." She noticed that the rain had stopped now so she put the Emerald away before standing up. She exited the woods and saw that unlike before, the sun was now shining and the sea had grown calm.

She checked the sky for seagulls and after being reassured that there were none, she stood by the edge of the cliff. Looking out, she saw a range of snow-topped mountains.

"Why is he still haunting me? I thought I made it clear that I don't care about him any longer!" She shouted out, although she knew no one was there. She shook her head and now the mountains were gone. Shrugging her shoulders she searched around for the building. She saw the place standing out to sea on top of a cliff. "There it is! Hmm, it would probably be quicker to fly there." She set off into the air and headed for the building.

Nothing happened for some time and she enjoyed the views of the sea. As she neared the building though, she heard the squawking of something she would have been pleased not to see again. But this time, a group of birds flew at her and she couldn't protect herself against them. She covered her face with her arms as she was forced downwards when suddenly, they stopped attacking her.

Looking upwards, she saw a blur of fire burn the seagulls and they flew back to the cliff, screeching in anger. Some of them fell into the sea and Rouge smiled when she crashed into it too. On instinct she kicked as hard as she could and surfaced, coughing. She swam to the shore and sat on the beach to dry herself out.

"What was that fire thing? I would sure like to thank it for what it did." She heard a crackling sound behind her.

"It was my pleasure to help you. Maybe we will meet each other again some time. But for now Rouge, goodbye." A person made out of flames stood in front of her. When it had finished speaking, it flapped its wings and sped off into the sky. The only thing that remained behind was a black feather. Rouge picked it up and kept it, not knowing why.

"I suppose I had better get back up there sometime soon." She stood up and started to climb up the cliff. It was crumbly and so it was hard at some points but she managed it without being attacked by anything. She pulled herself up over the edge and sat on the cliff for a few minutes, getting her breath back. "Maybe I should walk the rest of the way." She commented as she stood up.

She smiled to herself as she walked along, a light breeze in the air. She forgot about her worries and gazed around, looking for the building. She was surprised when she saw how close she was to it and stopped for a moment to take it all in.

The building was similar to an Ancient Greek temple only it was black. The roof was held up by four large pillars and was triangular in shape. The temple stood at the top of a set of stairs, which Rouge started to climb. As she did so, the stairs changed into a slide and she slipped down to the bottom.

"Ouch!" She exclaimed as she crashed at the bottom. "What is going on here?" Yet again she heard crackling behind her and she turned around to be faced by the flame creature.

"Just because a building's there doesn't mean it's going to let you in easily. You have run into a very stubborn place that won't let people in unless they're worthy." It said.

"You mean that building is…alive?" Rouge said astounded.

"Yes, all buildings in this place are. I will help you up there but you must turn around and not look at me."

"But why?"

"Because I cannot risk you seeing who I really am. Please or I won't be able to help you." Rouge sighed and did as the person said. The crackling noise disappeared and was replaced by the sound of a wind. She looked at where the person was but was now met by a wispy white figure. It raised its hands and Rouge felt herself lifted into the air. She kept still and was soon standing by the door. She looked around for the figure but it had disappeared.

"This adventure is getting stranger by the minute…" She muttered to herself before turning to face the door.

The door had a large engraving of a dragon standing on its hind legs, breathing out fire. Looking at the building she also noticed that it had more than one floor. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and entered the mysterious building.

Luff: Short and sweet.

S. Chensu: Crap.

Luff: Don't be like that!

S. Chensu: Anyway, next episode is up on Friday. I'm going bowling with some friends but hopefully Luff will remember to update!

Luff: Whatever. Just review until the update on Friday 2nd March.


	20. Sustenance fear

Luff: Hello people! 

S. Chensu: Nervous laughter

Luff: What's wrong?

S. Chensu: I think we told the lovely readers some wrong information last episode.

Luff: We did?

S. Chensu: Cough You know we told them it was Knuckles this episode...

Luff: Yeah...

S. Chensu: Well...it isn't. It's Tails.

Luff: What? You idiot!

S. Chensu: It's not my fault! I honestly thought it was and because we're a couple of episodes ahead, I must have forgotten what order they go in.

Luff: I won't trust you to write an author's note again! I think I'll deal with the reviewer replies this time:

Dragon Master Naya- It's nice to know you appreciate the feather. Just tell us when you wear it out and we'll give you another one. Aren't we nice?

RichaCo- To be honest, even we're not sure what's going on... But if you like short and sweet, then you'll like this episode too!

Mai...all alone...with no sign of Yugi- Mai, we can only say that Link is not real so you really shouldn't act like that. Anyway, we've already told you not to write anything like that in your review again so we won't bother saying it.

Yugi and Mai- Don't worry, just don't let it happen again. We can't tell you about what will happen as it'll spoil the plot but let's just say it'll get even more interesting than it is at the moment. And coughwaitforEggman'sepisodeforlotsofrevelationscough. If you can't guess who the person is on the tree then you'll just have to wait! And you might be onto something with what you said about Rouge and Knuckles. Yeah, sorry for misleading you about the whole Knuckles thing but he does come soon...we think. And of course you can have a feather Mai hands Mai a nice, shiny black feather.

S. Chensu: Phew, lots of stuff there Luff!

Luff: I know. We don't own the usual things but we do own the usual things too.

S. Chensu: Humph, that was just lazy.

Luff: And?

S. Chensu: Never mind, let's just get going.

Episode twenty: Sustenance fear 

As Tails walked along the path, it got darker but soon he saw a light at the end of the tunnel. He emerged in a world with a red and pink sky dotted with stars. A blue moon shone above him, giving the area a spooky atmosphere. Sand dunes rose on either side of him, reeds popping up occasionally but apart from this, there was little vegetation. The first thing he noticed was that the Tornado stood just a few feet away from him. He jumped up into it and set off forwards. It took him a few moments to realise that he was surrounded by food floating in the air and this made him very hungry. He tried to reach for it but it kept disappearing and reappearing in other places.

"This place sure is weird..." He muttered as he continued to explore the world. "Something's not right, nothing's attacked me yet and usually when this sort of thing happens, I can't look for enemies." He suddenly felt a chill and looked up, seeing himself in shadow. A huge piece of apple floated above him and Tails only just managed to get out of the way before it crashed down to the ground. Sand rose up on either side and floated back down while Tails sat in the Tornado, his eyes wide open.

"I'd be more careful if I were you..." He heard and he looked round, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Who's there?" He shouted.

"No one is here, I'm speaking to your mind. You should get moving soon if you want to get to your goal." The voice faded and Tails shook his head.

"My goal... Oh my God, I've just suddenly remembered Sonic and Shadow! The last couple of hours have been quite hectic..." He frowned as he continued forward, too busy thinking about Knuckles and Rouge to worry about food. _I hope this wouldn't happen but ever since that talk I had with Rouge right at the beginning of September, I've been wondering about them... Despite what Marie says, they weren't happy together; something always seemed to be missing on Rouge's part. Maybe Rouge can get over this whole upset but I don't think Knuckles will ever be able to. I suppose he must have considered himself lucky to have someone like Rouge..._

Tails blinked as he suddenly realised something was blocking his way. A thick piece of toast ten foot tall was in front of him and there was no way around it. Backing up a bit, he started to shoot at it with his Volkan Cannon and eventually it broke apart, tumbling down towards him like an avalanche. He covered his eyes and prepared himself for death but nothing happened. He saw through his fingers that the pieces were bouncing of an invisible shield, occasionally making a crackling sound. Once the dust had settled, Tails looked around for whoever had created the barrier but the land remained bleak and cold to anything that dared to disturb the peace of the desert.

Now the toast had gone, Tails could see what was hidden behind it. He gasped when he saw the biggest fruit bowl ever, filled full with not just fruit but sweets and chocolate too. He set off as fast as he could towards it but he was blocked by a barrier.

"I didn't realise the goal was in that direction. Do not be tempted by anything in this place, it is treacherous to both you and your friends..." The voice returned, this time closer to him than before.

"But I'm hungry, I have to have something to eat! Remove the barrier at once!" He started to shoot it but the shots were just absorbed when they hit the shield.

"Then I will have to teach you discipline..." Tails felt a sharp pain in his head and it continued resonating throughout his skull, not letting up for a second. As he felt his mind go fuzzy, he slumped sideways, causing him to slide out of the Tornado.

When he woke up, he rubbed his head, trying to get rid of the throbbing pain which although wasn't enough to knock him out, was very irritating. Once his focus had come back to his eyes, he sat up and saw that the Tornado had now gone. Sighing at the thought of him having to fly the rest of the way, he looked around, trying to find out where to go. Seeing the path he was originally on, he set off towards it and once he was there, he started to fly down it.

_Where was I? Oh yeah, I was thinking about how lucky Knuckles must have thought he was when he got together with Rouge. I hoped their relationship could have lasted longer but there's nothing anyone can do... What about Marie though? Was she speaking the truth when she thought it could happen to us? Are we actually in a big enough relationship to have that problem? So many questions, so little answers... _He sighed as he landed on the ground, feeling his tails beginning to ache.

"I know, it's hard isn't it?" A person enveloped in darkness stood in a cave in a cliff.

"Are you the person who hurt me earlier?" He demanded as he stepped forward but was stopped by a barrier. "Not another one! I'm going to scream any minute!" He pounded his fists against the wall and the figure watched on in amusement.

"I didn't hurt you Tails, I merely wanted you to realise that your friends are more important than your stomach. And by the way, doing that won't help." Tails stopped when he realised the person had said his name.

"How do you know my name? I know you were only trying to help but it did hurt. Why are you trying to hide yourself from me?"

"Because you don't need to know who I am. I know a lot of things, your name being one of them..."

"Do you know where I have to go now?"

"Out of here of course. The path is laid out before your feet but only if you choose to see it." They pointed towards the ground and Tails saw a line of grass now separating the sand.

"So I just follow the path? Why are you helping me anyway?" He frowned as he stared at the figure, still hidden in shadow.

"Only do what you think is right. Do I need a reason to help someone who obviously needs it?"

"I suppose not... Will I ever see you properly?" The person had to think about this.

"Only if you succeed in finding your friends..." Suddenly the figure was gone and Tails looked down at the strip of grass leading away from him.

"It wouldn't hurt to go this way I suppose..." He shrugged his shoulders before walking along the grass.

As he trotted through the strange land he had ended up in, he tried to piece together the small amount of information he had from his meeting with the person.

_It keeps on coming back to Sonic and Shadow... If I could find them then I'm sure I would know what's going on. Who is the person? It was hard to tell if they were a boy or a girl let alone give them a name. I wonder if the others are seeing people too? And most of all, I wonder if Knuckles and Rouge will be ok... _

He frowned as a range of mountains came into his view. He ran towards them and stood at the bottom, not sure what to do. At the top was a black Ancient Greek temple and deciding it was as good as place as any to go to, he set off in between the coconut trees, which surrounded the snow topped mountains.

S. Chensu: Hmm...recognise the building?

Luff: You should do, it was in Rouge's episode.

S. Chensu: Anyway, we fully checked (opened the document and everything) and we can officially say that the next episode is Sonic and Shadow.

Luff: And a note to say we've finally seen the episode which introduces Rouge in Sonic X. And she's the only one who sounds anywhere near the teenager/adult stage. Which is a relief.

S. Chensu: One final thing. Episode 21 is out on Wednesday 7th April. But until then, review please!


	21. Questions and answers maybe

Luff: Hello and welcome to our next episode!

S. Chensu: Oh, it's so exciting, isn't it?

Luff: Err...

S. Chensu: Just get on with it!

Luff: Okay okay! First of all, reviewer replies!

RichaCo- Don't worry, a bit more will be revealed this chapter! But, this episode is not Knuckles' episode! No! Oh well. Please enjoy this one until it gets put up!

Yugi and Mai- Yeah, we're sorry for confusing you, but hey, we're humans! It can't be helped. And yes, we are sure this episode is about Shadow and Sonic! No lies this time! Promise! -;

S. Chensu: Now, disclaimer! We do not own Sonic or any of the other characters apart from Shaylea and Kensa, and also the Arcs! Well, we own the name. He he!

Luff: Right, on with the episode!

Episode twenty-one: Questions and answers...maybe 

He could see a dark room, but nothing else. As a light slowly formed in what could only be the middle, he knew he didn't want to know what was about to appear. He tried to run, but couldn't. As the creature materialised, he screamed in pure terror. It leapt forward, knocking him over...

Shadow woke up with a start, breathing heavily as he looked around the room. He looked over to where Sonic was and saw that he was still asleep. It was just then that he remembered where he was and he ran through the events of yesterday (If it was. There were no windows so he couldn't be sure), pondering on where Shaylea and Kensa had appeared from. And not only that, but also where they were now and how come no one seemed to know about this place.

As he continued to try and find answers to his questions from what had happened so far, he became aware of something at the bottom. Looking down he saw Gregg staring up at them, frowning as he seemed to be thinking about something too. However, because Shaylea and Kensa had still not come back from their trip he wasn't able to get to their level. Trying to move forward a bit, Shadow also realised that they had put the chain back around his ankle. He leant against the bars and the metal felt hot against his skin. Remembering how they had been treated yesterday, Shadow hoped he hadn't been damaged permanently. He did feel slightly crispy and for a moment, he thought his brains had been in a liquidiser.

Feeling tired and weak, he wrapped himself up in his blanket and closed his eyes. Instantly, the images from his dream came back to him and he wondered if the creature was the thing he had to face. He couldn't see what it looked like, he only knew that it was very large and it didn't seem to have a specific shape, like a shape shifter. He suddenly thought that this creature might be the boss of this prison and that this 'Book of Knowledge' supposedly predicted Sonic and Shadow's appearance. Maybe Shaylea and Kensa had captured them for this specific reason.

_But that can't be right..._ Shadow thought. _They were told to capture us... Maybe this boss person knows about the book too and is wondering whether Sonic and me are the right people. After all, we're meant to cause his downfall._ He turned over, trying to get comfortable when he heard someone hissing something.

"Hey Shadow, are you awake?" It was Sonic and wondering how long he had been awake for, Shadow sat up.

"Yes I am, I've been awake for some time." He decided at that point that he wasn't going to tell Sonic about the dream.

"Do you think they're going to release us anytime soon?" He asked.

"Does it look like it?" Shadow indicated the chain around his ankle. Sonic saw his too and sighed.

"No is the answer to that one. I thought they trusted us not to escape." He sounded put out.

"I don't think it's that. It's probably just in case someone else comes along to check up on us. It would ruin their plans if something went wrong." Shadow commented.

"We don't even know their plan is yet! They attack us totally unprovoked, then they enrol us in something we don't know anything about and now they've gone off somewhere." Sonic paused. "That was after they put us to sleep of course."

"They'll tell us what's going on but if you keep ranting and raging like that then they won't. Just have a bit of patience."

"That's easy for you to say, you've been asleep for fifty years! I hate waiting, you can't get anything done. We shouldn't be sitting here, we should be doing something!"

"I was /_imprisoned/_ for fifty years, not asleep." Shadow said coldly. "We don't know anything about this place, if we tried to do something we would just get Shaylea, Kensa and Gregg into trouble."

"They've got /_us/_ into trouble! If, as they say, the others have gone looking for us then they could get hurt or killed! It may not matter to you but Tails and Knuckles are my close friends. They mean a lot to me, we've always worked together and I don't want to lose them because you're happy to wait here." Sonic shouted.

"Fine then, you break that chain and the door. Then jump down to the floor, walk through the door and find them." Shadow crossed his arms and glared at Sonic. "It's that simple. It's also that simple to get /_yourself/_ hurt or killed." Sonic turned away from him.

"All right, all right! You made your point, happy now?" He spat.

Shadow rolled his eyes and looked down, trying to see if Gregg was still there. He was and Shadow smiled.

"Gregg, when are Shaylea and Kensa coming back?" He was extremely perplexed when he heard the reply.

"Shut up you miserable little bugs!" He yelled, waving his scythe at them. He seemed to be signalling something.

"What?" Shadow said quietly.

"That's right, you bugs! No more Mr Nice Guy!" He yelled again.

"Why does he keep calling us bugs?" Sonic had come out of his stress and he was looking from Shadow to Gregg.

"I think he's trying to signal something." Shadow muttered. Sonic stared for a few more moments before leaning down.

"Gregg, are you trying to say that this place is bugged?" He asked.

"Yes, you're right there!" He snarled.

"Bugged?" Shadow thought for a moment. "It's not the place that's bugged, it's him! It must be something that keeps track of his voice but ignore everything else..."

"So he can't help us escape!" Sonic added.

"Yes, that's right... We'd better not say anything to him then, in case he says something he shouldn't by accident." Shadow decided. Sonic nodded his head in agreement.

"I've just suddenly thought Shadow, what if he's not the only thing bugged? He might not know if we're bugged too." He fell silent.

"And if we are..."

"Then we might have already ruined the plan." He whispered.

"But surely if we have then someone would have come to kill us by now. And wouldn't Shaylea and Kensa know?"

"How can we be sure we can trust them? They might have acted like that just to try and get our sympathy." Sonic commented.

"We'll have to confront them when they get back then." Shadow said.

"If we get the chance." Sonic said gloomily.

Just then, the door burst open and Shaylea and Kensa ran in. They seemed extremely alarmed about something.

"What's happened?" Gregg asked.

"Arcs! We don't have time to explain, we have to hurry!" Kensa said quickly while Shaylea flew up and took their blankets forcibly.

"I'm sorry about this, we'll explain afterwards...if we survive." She put them back in the cupboard and while Kensa put an illusion over it, Shaylea put all of the torches out. Suddenly plunged into darkness, Sonic and Shadow became disorientated but their other senses improved to make up for it. They heard a group of creatures stomp in and after a few moments, the room was flooded in light again.

They looked down and saw what could only be Arcs. They were like pigs but they walked on two legs and were black. They had huge tusks and were extremely ugly, covered in piercings and stitches. They carried swords, which could be lengthened into lances, depending on the situation. They wore boots and trousers but their chests were bare, allowing them to display the tattoos and scars they had gained over the years. Some of them were eyeing up Shaylea and Kensa in a way that made them extremely uncomfortable but Kensa held her trident slightly in front of her to keep them away.

At first, Shadow and Sonic couldn't make out what they were saying. It appeared to just be grunting and slobbering but after a while, they could make out the words they were saying.

"At least you kept them in the dark." The leader of the Arcs, a particularly large and warty specimen muttered. "How have you been treating them?" Shaylea was trembling slightly and refused to say anything so Kensa had to answer.

"Poorly, what else do you expect?" Her voice had once again become cold, like the first time she had talked to them.

"Then you won't mind us looking at them?" The leader took a couple of steps forward and turned back. "I hope they haven't been touched, for your sake." Kensa tensed slightly, remembering that they had been burnt badly. She pushed past the creature and a flash of anger passed its eyes but it stopped when it remembered the trident Kensa carried.

"Shaylea, take us up please." Before the Arc could reach her, Shaylea had already sent Kensa up into the air on a chunk of ground. She reached Shadow and Sonic's height and knelt down to them. "Give me your hands please, this is important." They did so in silence and she closed her eyes. They could feel something travelling up their arms and realised that she was healing them. Soon all of their burns had gone and they looked down to the bottom, where the leader and Shaylea were having an argument.

"You were meant to take me up too! Something's fishy here... Bring her back down now!" He yelled.

"I can't, I need a break between moving the ground, it's hard work." She replied. Suddenly, a lance was pointed at her throat and she backed away until she reached the wall.

"Move it back now or I'll add this as an accessory to your already overdone body, you little we." It threatened.

"I can't, I've already told you. I don't have the energy to-" She stopped suddenly though when he jabbed her in the throat. She cried out in pain, stumbling forward. "Ok, ok! I need to be closer..." She whispered, feeling the blood trickling through her fingers. She took her time, seeing that Kensa had still not finished.

"Kensa, you've got to stop now!" Shadow hissed. She shook her head, straining as she tried to speed up the process.

"Just a few more minutes..." She murmured.

"No, stop now! It's going to kill her!" Sonic tried to get free of her grip but it was too tight.

"Wait..." By now, Shaylea was on her knees, weakened by the amount of blood she was losing. "I'm done." Kensa said softly, her eyes still closed. Hearing this, Shaylea moved the ground back down before slumping forward. The Arc walked over her as it made its way to where Kensa was. It held its lance out at her so she couldn't go past him and Shaylea shakily moved it back up again.

Sonic and Shadow found out something else about Arcs: their breath stank of rotting flesh. It looked closely at them, jabbing at them occasionally with its lance. Once it was satisfied with what it saw, it grunted loudly at Shaylea and it was eventually back on the ground again.

"Keep them here until we fetch them in a few days time. And don't touch them, get it?" Kensa nodded her head. "Come on then you lot." It shouted to the others and they walked out of the room.

As soon as they had gone, Kensa ran to Shaylea, tears in her eyes.

"Come on Shaylea, you can't be dead." She pleaded and she turned to Gregg, who had appeared from the shadows. "Is she dead?" He stood by her and looked down.

"No, but she doesn't have long." He said sombrely.

"I don't have much energy left, I spent it all healing Shadow and Sonic." They looked at each other guiltily.

"Kensa..." Shaylea whispered hoarsely, opening her eyes.

"Shush, don't say anything." She turned to Gregg. "Get some of the blankets from the cupboard and rip them into bandages." He went and she looked up at Shadow and Sonic.

"Shadow, do you think there's a way we could give her some energy?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know." Shadow said, looking down.

"Kensa, you have to go to Sonic and Shadow. They can help you..." Shaylea said quietly.

"But how?"

"I will get you up there..."

"No, you don't have enough energy! It'll kill you!" Kensa shouted.

"Do it please...get Gregg here too..." Just as she said this, Gregg came back with a range of shredded blankets. The ground started rumbling and they rose up into the air until they were level with Sonic and Shadow. Shaylea's eyes closed and Kensa looked straight at the two hedgehogs.

"Will you two help me?" They nodded their heads in silence and Kensa opened the doors. "You will need to move into the same cage for the moment ok?" Sonic moved soundlessly out of his cage and soon he was with Shadow. Kensa lifted Shaylea into the now empty cage with ease and she took some of the blankets from Gregg, wrapping them around her wound, which was still bleeding.

"What about the rest?" Gregg asked.

"Give them to Sonic and Shadow. It might get a bit windy in here tonight..." She smiled at this while Gregg passed the remaining blankets to Sonic and Shadow. "You will have to give me your energy if I'm going to help Shaylea. You may feel a bit weak but hopefully you won't be knocked unconscious."

She placed her hands on their foreheads and where they had felt something entering them before, now they felt like liquid was being poured out of them. It didn't hurt though and they merely felt a bit dozy. Her hands left their foreheads and she moved to Shaylea, working quickly. As she did her work, she was explaining it to Sonic and Shadow, who looked on with interest.

"I need to make her stable or she might end up becoming one of her forms. After I've stopped the bleeding though..." She did both in a few minutes and covered her with a blanket. "There, she should recover quickly hopefully." She closed the door and sat down on the rock with Gregg. "Are you both ok? I tried to not take too much energy."

"Yeah, just a bit tired. A lot has happened though." Shadow said.

"Kensa, can you tell us about this place? So far, we don't know anything at all." Sonic requested.

"Basically, it was formed when the boss decided he needed a palace. He wasn't very strong at the time so he also used this place as a base to recruit more slaves. He created the Arcs to do his dirty work and keep the rest of us in check. I don't know how it happened but he's grown in power recently and wants to try and take over the world." Kensa explained.

"It's your basic power crazed, insane being story. For some strange reason though, he has no affect over humans..." Gregg added.

"Where are we though?" Sonic asked.

"We're underground. I'm not sure where exactly, we don't get told anything. When we captured you, it was the first time we had been above ground since we first came here. It made Shaylea happy, she got so excited about it. She really loves Earth..." Kensa stared at Shaylea sadly.

"And what about the Book of Knowledge? Where is it?" Shadow enquired.

"It's here, in Acumen. However, many Arcs guard the area it is in. You won't be able to visit it I'm afraid and it's too heavy to take here. Maybe if you defeat the boss then we will take you there." She saw that they were having trouble keeping awake. "Come on, you should get some rest now."

"Just one more thing..." Sonic said and she nodded her head. "Are our friends ok?"

"They've had a few shocks but they're not hurt. This place is a strange one and there are many outlandish areas of it. Some of the things they have and will see, they may think aren't possible. But they are. I will try to see how they are doing now..." She stood up and floated down to the ground, disappearing into the shadows.

"How will you get down Gregg?" Shadow asked.

"I'm a god strictly speaking so I cannot be hurt." He stood by the edge. "Now do as Kensa says and get some rest." He jumped down and faded away. Sonic and Shadow turned to each other.

"We may as well..." Shadow said and lying down, he closed his eyes. Sonic did the same but he found it harder to fall asleep.

Luff: Dun dun dun! What's going to happen next? More will be revealed in the next episode...

S. Chensu: Oh wow. Yes, the next episode will definitely have Knuckles in it!

Luff: And we're not joking this time! It is Knuckles!

S. Chensu: Yes. Anyway, please don't forget to read and review, as always, and the next episode will be up on Sunday 11th!

Luff: So, until then, goodbye! And see you next episode!

S. Chensu: Bye!


	22. Lava Pit

S. Chensu: Yo peeps, new episode up!

Luff: And only three more left to go until no more have been written!

S. Chensu: Eek, better get to work then!

Luff: But until then, please read the episode and reviewer replies if you reviewed.

S. Chensu: Not many people have been reviewing recently... Do you think we have only two readers?

Luff: Surely we must have more?

S. Chensu: Well if you do read but not review, then make time to say hi at some point before the end of the story.

Luff: Anyway, here are replies:

Yugi and Mai- Yes, they do sound a lot like moblins but honestly, they had no influence at all cough cough on the Arcs. And Yugi, don't be nasty; your sister doesn't deserve to be sent to the Shadow Realm. And Mai, the same thing goes for you. And no Sonic and Shadow are not going to be made gay because people don't like that sort of thing. People fine but hedgehogs... And yes, this episode is about Knuckles, you can tell because of the first word in here. And Gregg can't be hurt because he's a god i.e. immortal so he can do whatever he wants. And what would happen if the Grim Reaper died? There'd be chaos, that's what! Hope you two had a lovely Easter too!

RichaCo- We're glad some things have been cleared up but you won't find out who the boss is for another few episodes unfortunately. Knuckles is this chapter, Marie is the one after, then it's back to Sonic and Shadow and then Eggman. We think. We're sure that episode 25 is Eggman because it's the last one we've written. Which reminds us that we must write some more soon...

S. Chensu: We no own the characters, only the story.

Luff: Boo hoo but oh well. On we go, living poor sad little lives...

Episode twenty-two: Lava Pit 

Knuckles stormed through the darkness, his senses blinded by the anger and the adrenalin rushing through his body. Despite this, even /he/ could feel the sudden increase in temperature. Stopping to look around, his eyes widened at the scene laid out before him. The source of the heat soon became obvious and as Knuckles looked down at the magma as red as his fur, he felt the whole place shake slightly. Small chips of rock broke and tumbled down, only adding to the tension Knuckles felt in his body. As he looked up, he saw a clear blue sky through a hole at the top of the pyramid shaped room.

Turning his attention to the brick path in front of him, he saw someone standing in the circle that ended it in the middle of the room. However, he couldn't see them properly because the heat was starting to sting his eyes. He walked forward slowly but sped up when the room shook again, this time much harder. When he thought he'd finally reached the person, he was surprised to find they had gone. He didn't have long to ponder on this before he fell to the ground as the rumblings increased. What surprised him more though was the voice he could hear. Well not hear, it was more like thoughts in his mind.

"You haven't really helped yourself, have you Knuckles?" The voice was neither accusing nor asking, it was merely stating what it felt.

"What do you mean?" Knuckles asked aloud, since he didn't know what else to do.

"You now have ten minutes to get out of this place before you become a kebab."

"Before what? Ten minutes?" Knuckles frowned in puzzlement.

"You are in a volcano and it is going to erupt in ten minutes if you do not get out of here." Although the voice remained neutral, he swore the person was very annoyed with him. He however, was starting to feel panic rise through him.

"An eruption?" His panic brought anger too and his mind was reminded of the earlier scene with Rouge. "Not only has she accused me of misunderstanding her and abusing my trust, she's made me end up in a volcano about to explode!" He shouted in frustration.

"She has not made you do anything, your actions have caused this. How /_you/_ have acted, not her. She merely played a part in your fate and still does." The voice said calmly.

"/_She/_ has nothing to do with me anymore. She merely reminded me how gullible I am and that I should never trust anyone." He retorted resentfully.

"You think whatever you want to but leave that until later. You now have five minutes."

"Five minutes?" Knuckles yelled but suddenly he remembered himself. "Wait a minute, I have enough skills to get out of here in a moment!"

"You wish..." It muttered and suddenly, Knuckles knew it was gone.

He also knew that he had to go too, for despite what he had said, even Sonic would have trouble getting out of there. He jumped up high into the air before gliding to one of the walls, thinking of climbing as far as he could. He gave up on that idea though as soon as he felt them. He yelped in pain and let go of the wall, falling down several feet onto a ledge below. He lay there for a moment, stunned by the flashing pain going through his hands. Usually he could take heat better than this, although he didn't like bright sunlight and cursed silently at the lack of training he had done recently.

He now had to make a decision about what he was going to do and quickly. Gliding seemed like the first option but Knuckles knew that took up a lot of energy and he wouldn't be able to get to the top of the volcano like that. His only other choice was to climb up and bracing himself for the pain he knew was about to come, he gripped the walls and started climbing. Resolving himself not to let go, he slowly made his way up.

At first it was hard not to stop as the pain shot up his arms and his brain told him to let go. Curse his heightened reflexes! He struggled upwards and slowly, the pain gradually grew less.

_Although it's probably because my nerve endings have been burnt away..._ He thought bitterly as he stopped for the third time. The shaking was getting worse and he had to pause so he didn't lose his grip and fall. This worried him too because he meant that he had not much time left. Ignoring the tremors, he moved his foot, causing the rocks to crumble from underneath it. He slipped, losing his footing and he held on for dear life with his hands. His feet scrambled around, causing more rocks to fall and he felt his grip loosening. Knowing it wouldn't be long until he fell, he hauled himself up by one arm while reaching for a ledge above with the other.

He sat, exhausted by his effort on the ledge and allowed himself enough time to see how far he had got. He'd covered some considerable distance and smiled to himself. However, this turned into a frown when he saw the magma slowly rising through the volcano. Swearing loudly, he started gliding from ledge to ledge as there were more up here. The smell of fresh air encouraged him but the searing hot liquid was moving faster now, gaining on him. It was at this point that his body refused to take any more punishment and he was forced to jump from platform to platform. It was also at this point that he realised the harm he had taken to his hands.

The skin was peeling and starting to form blisters from the extensive damage he had inflicted on them. He wondered at what he was going to do about them when the thought suddenly occurred to him that if he didn't hurry up, he would have no /body/, let alone any hands, to worry about. The temperature rose with the lava and Knuckles, not able to see any more ledges, began his final ascent. Suddenly, a blast of hot air shot him up and out through the top of the volcano.

He flew through the air and landed in something he did not expect. It was white, crispy and most importantly, it was cold. It brought great relief to Knuckles, who had soon forgotten the small matter of the erupting volcano. Until someone grabbed his hands and yanked them out of the snow that is. He couldn't see anyone though and struggled against their grip on his wrists, which was starting to tighten.

"Let go!" He shouted. Suddenly, several things happened at once.

First of all, a loud explosion was heard from the volcano and magma burst out from the top, lava spraying everywhere. The air began to shimmer in front of him and Knuckles knew he was going to die but something happened that wasn't expected. A shield had been created around him, stopping him from being burnt to death. Now this concern was removed, he could feel the pain in his hands, which were still held above him. He cried out as air got into the cuts and shivered from the snow he was lying on. He couldn't move though and he felt weakened from his earlier struggles.

"Who are you?" He said hoarsely.

"Someone who wants to help you..." They whispered calmly and he felt something warm and refreshing wash over him. "Sleep now, you have nothing to worry about..." His eyes slowly closed to the sight of the sky becoming dark.

"Tell me..." He murmured as his body relaxed.

"I hope I have enough energy to heal all of those wounds. But his body isn't the only thing that is broken..." The person sighed softly as they laid his arms across his body. He glowed slightly for a moment and seeming satisfied, the person transported Knuckles to a different part of the volcano. As they disappeared (although they were in truth invisible), the shield remained, preventing the fresh fall of snow from covering Knuckles.

S. Chensu: In all the excitement, we forgot to say Happy Easter to everyone!

Luff: Even if you're not Christian or whatever, we hope you're still enjoying the holidays.

S. Chensu: Yeah but because they're a bit weird down here in the south, they haven't put us on holiday until this Thursday, whereas everyone else has already had a week off.

Luff: Puzzling...

S. Chensu: But anyway, continue to enjoy the hols and the next episode is up Friday the 16th April.


	23. Lakeside trip

Luff: Hey guys! Sorry this is late but we went out yesterday and by the time we got back, we were knackered. 

S. Chensu: And I watched a film called 'Shadow of the Vampire'. It was very good, had John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe and Eddie Izzard in it.

Luff: Anyway, that's enough of her ranting about the film, now it's time for replies:

RichaCo- Nice to know you appreciate the descriptiveness. It's mainly there to make the chapter a decent length. But anyway, Rouge and Knuckles can't get back together for at least another few episodes so you'll just have to wait.

Yugi and Mai- By the way, Luff is v. angry with you because our dad read the review you wrote for 'The Pressures of Life' and is now slightly concerned about her tastes i.e. you shouldn't have put sex in the first sentence. And then the next one and the one after that... And please don't turn Yugi into a plushie; he's small enough as it is! And Mai, stop telling us your fantasies, we aren't really interested to be honest.

S. Chensu: Anyway, because of the lovely thing known as exams, we might be able to update as often. But we'll try. Honestly.

Luff: Anyway, as usual we don't own Sonic just our own characters and places. Which is the story I suppose.

S. Chensu: This episode is from Marie's point of view. Hope you like it.

Episode twenty-three: Lakeside trip 

Marie walked down the stairs and paused, seeing the shimmering water. She walked into an area made up of a lake with trees on either side. Further on behind the trees, she could see several things, which made her very confused. A desert, a cliff, a volcano, a large multicoloured dome... She didn't think that it was possible to have these things together, they had such different climates. Looking at the other side of the lake, she saw that the trees grew on a sloping hill, with a large temple at the top. The woods themselves looked quite dark and sinister, the sun being unable to penetrate them. Even the sun couldn't show what was beneath the murky surface of the lake and Marie looked nervously into it.

The water was covered in patches of slime and mud, with an occasional stone floating on the top. There were braches from dead trees in it too, like arms of the lake's past victims. She shook her head, refusing to be frightened by the lake.

"It's not like there's anything that can live in it..." She said aloud to herself. Amongst the silence of the lake, her voice sounded louder than she wanted it to. She looked around, hoping she hadn't attracted any unwanted attention. But nothing happened, the place was totally silent. No wind going through the trees, no birds singing, no frogs or fish in the water. She sat down, puzzled by the place and its atmosphere.

Wondering how she had managed to end up here, she remembered the shouting match that Knuckles and Rouge had had. Tails had told her about those two and the trouble they'd had recently. And listening to the other things he had told her, she suddenly thought that this was all probably the fault of her sister.

_She's so stupid, this is all her fault!_ Marie thought angrily. _If she hadn't tried to snog Knuckles then things probably wouldn't have got so bad! I know that she's different now, or tries to be but I bet it must have affected Rouge really badly._ She tried to remember all of the times she had seen Rouge and Knuckles together and using the advantage she had of hindsight, she tried the spot the growing tension between the two of them. She had to admit that they didn't seem to want to be near each other, especially Rouge. It was certainly different to how Tails had described them when they first started going out.

Thinking of Tails reminded her of the promise they had made to each other. She could never be sure about whether she was actually in love with him or not. After all, she was only ten and she didn't know anyone else her age that was actually going out with someone, at least seriously. He was very close to her though and she was happy when she was with him. Tails had eventually told her the truth about their past and although she was surprised, it didn't change things. The only problem was that after this, they might decide to leave. She didn't know what effect that would have on her. She knew she would live; but things did seem nicer when Tails was around. Maybe she would know for sure when she was older.

Deciding that she had to get moving now, she stood up and looked on either side of her on the bank of the lake. It didn't seem to end though and after taking a few steps, she decided to give up on that idea. Looking back across the lake, she saw the temple and thought that maybe that would be a good place to go. She walked to the edge of the lake and looked nervously at it. Seeing a rock not far from the shore, she jumped onto it, hoping it wouldn't give way. It didn't and breathing a sigh of relief, she looked around for the next one.

While she was doing this, she didn't notice that some of the logs seemed to all be moving in a certain direction. Eyes appeared on the logs and they tracked the tasty piece of meat as she slowly made her way across the lake. She stopped though, seemingly at a dead end and the logs decided as one that now would be a good time to get her. They remained unnoticed as the girl continued to try and find another rock...

_I think I'm going to have to backtrack._ Marie thought with a sigh. _I wish Tails had taught me how to do that thing with his tails, it looked really useful and I could sure do with it now..._ She remembered one time when he had shown her how he could fly and he told her he would teach her if she wanted to. He never got the chance to though because Sonic and Shadow had been captured the next day. She didn't want to risk trying it now in case she fell into the lake.

Looking at the water, she noticed that the logs were doing strange things.

"Wait a minute, logs don't do strange things!" She exclaimed as she noticed what looked suspiciously like eyes. She heard a snapping of a jaw and realised for the first time that they weren't logs, they were crocodiles! She gave a little shriek and encouraged by this, the crocodiles moved in closer. She tried edging away from them but she soon saw that they had surrounded her, trapping her. _I wish I had been paying more attention..._ She thought. Stumped as to what to do, she did what anyone else would do: she screamed for help.

She stopped though when the crocodiles grew still and they suddenly went below the surface of the water. She couldn't see where they had got to and she twisted and turned nervously. Hearing a splashing noise, she turned around and was almost killed by an incoming crocodile. She backed away, only to be snapped at by another. She started crying softly when she was suddenly lifted into the air.

She couldn't see anyone nearby but for the moment was just glad that she was away from the crocodiles. She landed on the bank she had been trying to get to and smiled when the crocodiles snapped angrily at her before disappearing. She turned towards the trees and was surprised to see a hazy figure in front of her. The only thing she could be sure of was that the figure was human shaped. She stood in front of it, unsure of what to do and when it didn't say anything, she stepped forward.

"Who are you?" Marie asked.

"Someone who is helping you because it's important you reach that building." Although the person didn't move at all, they still spoke. Something seemed familiar about the voice but Marie brushed it aside.

"You mean that temple up there?" She pointed to it.

"Yes, you must reach it." The person looked like they were going to disappear.

"No, don't go yet!" Marie shouted and it turned back to her. "Why do I have to get there?"

"The future of your friends depends on it." The person looked into the woods. Marie did so too and gulped slightly when she saw how dark it was.

"Do I have to go through there?" Her voice shook slightly.

"You could go back again." The person indicated the lake and remembering the crocodiles, Marie shook her head. "Then yes, this is the only way."

"But I really don't like the dark..."

"There is nothing to fear as long as you remember why you're here..." It whispered, it's voice seeming to wash over her.

"Why am I here?" She asked.

"To take your place in the fates of your friends. You are here in this place for a reason. Not just anyone can get here you know..." It faded away before Marie could say anything else and she looked around, trying to find it.

"The fates of my friends..." Musing over this, Marie took the first step of what was going to be a very hard challenge for her.

Luff: Ooh, what's going to happen?

S. Chensu: Don't known, we haven't written it yet.

Luff: D'oh!

S. Chensu: Sigh And now the exams are here...

Luff: Ha ha, not for me!

S. Chensu: Whatever. Anyway, next episode up on Friday the 23rd April.

Luff: A month before my birthday!

S. Chensu: I'll be in the middle of my exams then...

Luff: Anyway, please review!


	24. Going through phases

Luff: Hello peeps, new episode for you! Sorry it's late but we've been out a lot as it's a holiday! 

S. Chensu: But anyway, here are the reviewer replies!

RichaCo- We'll see about them, we'll see. You'll have to continue reading to find out. Yes, we know, get Rouge and Knuckles back together. There will be developments soon, we promise. Maybe. 

Streek471- Thanks for reviewing; you're the first new reviewer in a while. But anyway, your idea is partly true with Marie but the problem is, your idea is more for a thought we had for the second series. If there is one.

Yugi and Mai- We will not give into your demands of changing things before it's time to! But here is the next chapter for you and it's nice to know you think it's so great.

the funk master- New reviewer! Thankies for the review and it's nice to know you appreciate the story. Hopefully it'll continue to improve for you.

Luff: On the last point we made to Streek471, there may possible be a second series. We've had some ideas and even done some writing for it but we won't put it up unless people want it.

S. Chensu: It would be nice if we did put it up though; it's shorter than this one is. No more than 25 episodes we think.

Luff: But until then, we don't own some things although we do own others.

S. Chensu: Warning for this episode! There is something that happens between Sonic and Shadow, which will make at least three people leap to the wrong conclusion that they are gay. We've already said several times that there is no gay stuff in here at all, the strange behaviour will be explained later.

Luff: So don't moan! Off we go.

Episode twenty-four: Going through phases 

Sonic got very little sleep that night. Kensa was right, it was windy and Sonic was cold. Shadow seemed to be asleep, he hadn't moved recently anyway but Sonic was wide-awake. The recent events had made Sonic wonder about Kensa, Shaylea and Gregg and who they were. Something was niggling at the back of his mind about Kensa and Shaylea. He had never seen them before but...it was like he knew who they were. It was the way that Kensa acted, it was very similar. Shaylea, it was harder to define but there was something there.

Sonic turned over and nearly ended up on top of Shadow. He didn't move and Sonic quickly edged away, very embarrassed. He lay there, facing Shadow and stared at his face. He seemed to frown, even in his sleep and Sonic wondered what had happened to him. He of course knew about the whole ARK thing but he didn't know why Shadow wanted to destroy the world, unless it was for the same reasons as Gerald Robotnik. He did change though, right at the end. His reason for that was unknown too. And he still hadn't asked Shadow what he meant when he said that he thought Sonic was the ultimate life form.

_It can't be true; I have a mum and dad!_ Sonic thought. _Shadow was created by scientists and I've never known any scientists apart from Eggman. And he definitely didn't create me! Shadow is the ultimate life form. He said so himself, when we first met. But what if he was wrong? Then I am the ultimate life form and we're here for a reason... The book must be right! I wish we could see it for ourselves though, I want to be sure..._ He sat up and careful not to wake Shadow up, he looked over to where Shaylea was.

She looked fainter than usual; maybe that was what Kensa had meant when she said it was going to be windy. He hoped she was going to be ok, Kensa looked really upset about it.

_No wonder though, if you were a prisoner in a place like this, the only way you'd remain sane was if you had someone to talk to..._ Feeling the wind chilling him, Sonic laid down again. He stared at Shadow in surprise, seeing him twitching and occasionally muttering something. Not sure of what to do, he continued to watch Shadow as he shook slightly before opening his eyes.

Shadow stared at Sonic, feeling himself go bright red as he realised that Sonic had been watching him.

"Shadow, are you ok?" He asked, sitting up slightly.

_Well now's a good time as any to tell him..._ Shadow thought. "Yeah, I just had a nightmare, that's all."

"What was it about?"

"I'm in a room, I think and a light appears in the middle. A creature's appearing but it's so terrible that I don't want to see it. It comes though but I can never see it. Then it leaps forward and knocks me over..." He paused, shuddering at the memory. "Then I wake up. Things like that wouldn't usually worry me but I've had the dream before."

"That usually means it's very important. Maybe the creature you see is the thing we've got to face." Sonic suggested.

"We'll know when we see the boss of this place." Shadow said.

"Why do you say that?"

"We're meant to defeat the boss and the Arc thing said that they would come back in a few days to take us to him."

"I wish they would have actually said a number of days. A few days could be anything..." Sonic said gloomily.

"And Shaylea needs to be up and about by then or they're going to realise that they've been talking to us." Shadow added. They fell into silence for several minutes until Sonic suddenly remembered something.

"They said that he couldn't affect humans... What does that make him then? Maybe he can't kill anything."

"There are other ways of killing someone apart from physically hurting them." Shadow pointed out. "Maybe he has special powers like Shaylea and Kensa do."

"That reminds me... Do you get that feeling that you know them but you can't quite be sure what it is?"

"No, not really. Maybe they remind you of someone you met a long time ago when you were fighting against the professor."

"Yeah, maybe..." Sonic suddenly felt really tired. It made sense; after all he hadn't actually got any sleep, unlike Shadow. "God I'm so tired..."

"Didn't you get any sleep?"

"No, I couldn't. The cold was keeping me awake..." They both noticed that it had got even colder, if that was possible. Sonic drew the blanket over him and closed his eyes, trying to keep as still as possible. He felt the cage move slightly and opening his eyes, he saw Shadow moving towards him. He looked extremely embarrassed so Sonic closed his eyes and leant against Shadow. Suddenly he felt a lot warmer than before and he smiled.

"Any better?" Shadow whispered.

"Yeah..." Sonic said sleepily, snuggling up to him.

Sonic opened his eyes several hours later and gasped at the heat in the air. He practically ripped the blankets off of him and sat up, looking to where Shadow was. He was staring at Shaylea, who seemed to have turned into a ball of fire. Sonic knelt beside him and his eyes widened in worry.

"What's happening to her?" Sonic exclaimed.

"She got bored with making the place windy so she thought she'd turn up the heat a bit." Shadow said.

"_A /bit/_? I'm boiling! I hope Kensa comes back soon, I don't know how much I can take of this." Sonic paced the cage, made difficult by the fact that it was very small.

"I think that's her down there..." Shadow commented and Sonic looked to where he was pointing.

True to his word, Kensa had just arrived and seemed extremely distressed by the temperature of the room. She floated up to the chunk of ground that was still hovering in the air and rushed over to Shaylea.

"How long has she been like this for?"

"I don't know, maybe a couple of hours-" Shadow started.

"A couple of hours! I hope she's going to be all right..." She went into her cage and ignoring the flames, placed her hand on Shaylea's forehead. She was whispering something and slowly, the flames became subdued. Once they had gone completely, she stared her hand and the burns faded away. She left the cage and sat in front of Sonic and Shadow who were staring at her with a mixture of puzzlement and surprise.

"What was that about?" Sonic eventually asked.

"Shaylea's going through..." She waved her hands around, trying to think of the word. "Phases. The wind didn't matter so much; she doesn't hurt herself doing that but with fire... It's a dangerous weapon and if she doesn't concentrate properly, she sets herself on fire too. Obviously she can't at the moment because she's unconscious so I just have to make sure she's ok." Kensa explained.

"Is she going to go through anymore...phases?" Shadow asked.

"Yes, I don't know how long for though." She looked at Shaylea and smiled. "She's going into her third phase already." They were going to ask her about it when they felt the room shake. Sonic and Shadow were knocked over and once they had managed to get back up again, they were very nervous.

"Err, Kensa..." Shadow said apprehensively. "What is her third phase?"

"Oh, earth. The ground shakes for a little while, hopefully it shouldn't be too serious." Sonic raised his eyebrows.

"/_Shouldn't be too serious/_? The room isn't the only thing that's shaking!" She realised what he meant as she heard his voice quiver too.

"Don't worry, there's only one small problem." She said, trying to smile.

"What?"

"She has been known to make rooms collapse." She said quickly. Seeing the expression on their faces, she gasped. "Oh no, it's no like that happens all the time!"

"That's all right then." Shadow breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just occasionally..." She added quietly.

"A great reassurance I'm sure..." Sonic muttered. Shadow decided that now was the time to change the topic of conversation.

"So then, did you find any of our friends?"

"Oh yes, I forgot about that!" She laughed but then turned serious. "Yes, I did find some...one."

"You couldn't find the others?" Sonic asked.

"There are usually two of us, just remember that." She said coldly. "And they're so spread out it's hard to keep track of them. I would usually track their mental signals but as I do not know what they all look like, I cannot picture them."

"Who did you find?"

"A fox-"

"Tails?"

"Well, she did have more than one tail now that you mention it." She said thoughtfully.

"No, Tails is his name." Shadow suddenly thought. "You said 'she' didn't you?" He turned to Sonic. "That must mean it's Marie then."

"Yes, she had a red dress on and a bow in her hair." She looked sombrely at them. "I'm sorry I didn't find any of your other friends but I couldn't risk it. The boss is starting to become aware of them and is keeping track of everyone who goes near them." She paused. "And although I can travel a lot faster than Shaylea, she can go for longer. I don't have a clue where most of them are and couldn't risk becoming stranded."

"Don't worry if you can't find all of them, but have you seen anyone else apart from Marie?"

"Yes, I have. I saw an echidna and another fox-"

"So you did see Tails! And Knuckles too. Were they both ok?" Sonic asked.

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you. I never actually saw what happened to them, I only told them about you two before leaving. I'm not supposed to help, I attract too much attention." She moved slightly closer to the two hedgehogs. "If it's any consolation though, from what I can tell of the two of you, particularly Sonic, you have been through so much together that I'm sure they'll do fine."

"It's not them I'm so much worried about, it's Marie. She's never done anything like this before, we don't even know how capable she is." Sonic said.

"You have nothing to worry about, I can tell you that she's fine, just a bit scared about what's going on."

"What I don't understand is why Tails isn't with her! He should be helping her but he's gone off in a totally different direction." Sonic said angrily. "The whole group should have stayed together!"

"Maybe they shouldn't have..." Kensa muttered but seeing their puzzled looks, she brightened up. "They couldn't stay together, Acumen wouldn't let them." She indicated the room. They noticed for the first time that the rumblings seemed to have grown less and the room only shook occasionally.

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked.

"This place is alive, I suppose. It can sense how many people enter it and if they are stupid enough to wear their emotions on their sleeves then it can sense that too. Basically, it knew when your friends entered the gate and it sensed certain feelings that they might have had." Kensa explained and Sonic interrupted her.

"Like love?"

"Yes, love is a prime example. If they aren't aware of what Acumen is doing, it can turn people against each other and cause discord amongst them. That is usually enough to split most small groups up. However, there are some people who can't be affected like that and so Acumen physically separates them." She finished.

"So they all got split up for various reasons and are now in completely different places?" Shadow inquired and Kensa nodded. "But they're all still in this place, surely it can't be that big? And if it is, will they actually be able to get back together again?"

"No one's quite sure how big it is, some people say the place has to power to change its shape and size. However, it likes playing with its victims before it kills them so there will be something that everyone can see and they will eventually reach it. It depends on how hard things are made for them."

"Will it kill them before they reach this thing?"

"No, not deliberately but...if the person hasn't got a strong sense of will then they will not make it. The more inexperienced you are, the harder it makes it for you."

"So Marie could die?" Sonic asked with alarm.

"However, that said, Acumen will not let just anyone in. You have to have a reason to be here. Her reason is known only to her and me."

"And you're not going to tell us?" Shadow said.

"No, I will not. I have strictly speaking said too much already. I will not go out again, it is Shaylea's turn now." She walked over to her and looked at her. "I think the third phase is over..." She looked up and screwed her eyes shut. "And so the fourth phase begins..." She whispered.

"What is the-" But before he could finish, Sonic felt a raindrop fall on his head.

"Rain..." Shadow muttered.

"Water is Shaylea's favourite element and power so it could last for some time. Once it's over though, she'll wake up. Then we can look for your friends properly..." She faded away and Sonic and Shadow were once again left on their own.

They put the blankets over them so they didn't get wet as they thought about everything Kensa had said. Sonic though, couldn't help wondering about the reason why he couldn't get to sleep in the first place. He really wanted to ask Shadow and finally put the thing that had been plaguing him to rest but he couldn't. What would he say? Seeing Shadow looking at him strangely, he tried to think of something to say.

"Well, that was certainly a lot wasn't it?" He said pleasantly.

"Understatement. But one thing's worrying me...remember when you asked Kensa if love was included in emotions that could be sensed and exploited?" Sonic nodded his head. "Do you think that would have affected Knuckles and Rouge?"

"No, surely not. They wouldn't let themselves listen to such stupid things...would they?" Sonic suddenly looked worried.

"Maybe you didn't notice how bad things got between them..." Shadow commented.

"Even I noticed that things weren't perfect...but they seemed so happy before! It's all changed since Knuckles snogged Gillian at school. I don't really see what Rouge was complaining about though, she wanted him to do it."

"I think she was just upset because Knuckles was so against it at first and then seemed to enjoy himself." Although he hadn't been there, there were so many worries about them two amongst the group that he knew the story as well as they did.

"Hopefully when everyone is back together again and when we see them, we can talk some sense into them. Until then though..." Sonic shrugged his shoulders.

"We should probably just worry about /_if/_ we see them again. From the sound of this boss person, we're going to be facing a hard time."

"It can't be worse than the Finalhazard, can it?" This time, Shadow shrugged his shoulders and the thought of something worse than Biolizard forced them into silence.

_I nearly died because of the Finalhazard..._ Shadow thought. _Could the same thing happen with this creature? Or will it be different? Maybe we won't actually survive this time... We won't be in our super forms for a start off and the last time I used Chaos Control I was so weakened I don't think I could do it again... And Sonic wouldn't be able to do it on his own..._ He turned to look at Sonic and found him deep in thought too. _He's been like that recently. I wonder what he's thinking about? Maybe he's wondering about when we faced the Finalhazard together... I remember the last thing I said to him, about him being the ultimate life form... Is he?_

He turned to stare at Sonic again, who was too absent minded to notice that the blanket had fallen off him and he was soaking wet.

"Sonic, you're looking a bit wet." Shadow said loudly and Sonic shook his head, feeling how soaked he was.

"Damn it, I forgot all about that! Now I'm drenched..." He put the blanket back over himself and looked over at Shaylea. "I hope this finishes soon."

"Me too." There was an awkward silence. "Sonic, are you ok? You seem to be troubled by something." Sonic frowned and looked away.

"No, not really. It's just that..." He turned to Shadow again. "I've been thinking about what you said to me, you know, before you fell after the battle with the Finalhazard..." His voice trailed into silence.

"I've been thinking about it too and I still stand by my words." Sonic looked surprised. "But maybe if we see the Book of Knowledge, we'll find out for sure."

"Yeah, you're probably right..." Sonic looked up and so did Shadow.

The rain was beginning to lighten and slowly but surely, it disappeared and Sonic and Shadow removed the blankets that were covering them. They heard the door open and looking down, they saw Kensa rushing towards them. She stood in front of the cage and opened the door to check on Shaylea.

"Will she wake up now?" Shadow asked.

"Yes, I don't see why she wouldn't..." She lifted Shaylea up slightly and shook her gently. "Shaylea, wake up..." She whispered. Slowly, she stirred and she opened her eyes, looking around.

"Have they gone?" Kensa nodded her head. "That's a relief then." She sat up and spotted Sonic and Shadow. "You're still here eh? I thought they would have taken you away by now."

"You've only been unconscious for about two days, they said it was going to be a few days." Shaylea looked surprised at this.

"Two days? How have you managed to look for everyone on your own?"

"I haven't, I've only been able to find one person..." Kensa said quietly.

"One person? We've got to go and look for the others now then!" She sat up and merely shook Kensa off when she tried to keep her down. "I'm fine!" She snapped, stalking out of the cage. "What are you waiting for?"

"Just need to get Sonic back in his cage..." He did so and once they were both locked; Kensa and Shaylea set off wordlessly to find Sonic and Shadow's friends.

Luff: Lots of info there, no one's asked any questions about the place they're in but if you were wondering, hopefully it's enlightened you.

S. Chensu: and the people who've been asking about the mysterious shadows, hopefully this episode will have made it obvious to you too.

Luff: Next episode is up Monday 3rd May because of exams and it'll be from Eggman's point of view.

S. Chensu: Ooh, I like this episode; it has lots of pretty things in it!

Luff: Whatever. We still haven't written anymore, we should do soon though. Until then, review!


	25. Time's End?

S. Chensu: We've finally reached this episode!

Luff: Sorry about that people but this is one of her favourite episodes.

S. Chensu: It's full of surrealism! If you don't know what surrealism is, it's a movement in art, which is most famous for 'The Scream' by Munch and 'The Persistence of Memory' by Dalí (the one with the floppy clocks). And it's great!

Luff: While she's being weird, it's time for reviewer replies.

Dragon Master Naya- Worst nightmare?

RichaCo- I know, there's some more 'phases' stuff in this episode. Kind of. You'll see when you read it. The Book of Knowledge is coming in episode 30 so just be patient!

the funk master- Yay, someone who wants a second series! It's a bit different to this one. It has more characters for a start off but... Oops, we can't talk about it anymore or it would spoil the plot of this one. We'll tell you more about it near the end.

Lewa Nuva- Yes, we're British! And the way you spelt favourite came up wrong on our computer, which means you're American! What do you mean by close in action? You mean putting more in? Don't worry, there is no boy pairing, we've already said this many times! We did realise you could make it STREAKS, which would have made them a bit of a laughing stock really. We'll explain again that there's no Amy because we started writing this before we had finished the game so we didn't realise she was at the end. D'oh! Sorry, we don't know much about Sonic's girlfriend, we only have the Gamecube games and watch Sonic X on TV. Which isn't even that great. Do you mean Sally or that robot thing that was on the old TV series? We don't know anything about the comics, Chen tried looking for them but they aren't anywhere nearby. And plus she has no money. But anyway, we're glad you enjoy the story!

Yugi and Mai- You mean EXAM? Chen loves that word, especially when English Literature is put in front of it. Blessy, Yugi all asleep. Did you survive from Bakura on Saturday? Lots of love and kisses by the way. And hello Mai too! They're not getting back together for some time, so stop going on about it! Ah ha, you might be onto something there with what you said about Emily and Sammie... And as for Yami tucking her in, I hope that's all he's doing, although I know if she had her way...

S. Chensu: As usual we don't own anything in here, including pictures apart from things we own. Like the story for example. But I do wish I owned a nice piece of Surrealism by Magritte...

Luff: Careful or we'll have the lawyers baying for our blood!

Howls are heard in the background

Luff: See what you've done! They're coming!

Lots of screams are heard before the screen goes black and the episode pops up for the reader. Aren't they so nice?

**Episode twenty-five: Time's end?**

Eggman wandered along the path, looking around with interest. He was trying to work out how the place had come about but gave up after being unable to come to any conclusions. He stopped and looked behind him but the arch he had walked though had now disappeared. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued along the path until the tunnel opened up and he stood in front of a blue dome. It seemed to be night time from looking at the sky although he realised it probably wasn't real because he was underground. The dome was made up of triangles but was opaque so he couldn't see inside.

In fact it took him a little while to realise that there was a door in the dome because it was the same colour as the rest of it. He yanked it open and squinted in the darkness. He couldn't see anything apart from something that was glowing in front of him. He discovered that it was the Hornet and glad of some protection, he jumped into it. As soon as he did so, lights suddenly came on and Eggman sat back in the machine, amazed by what was seeing.

He was in a maze but it wasn't made of bushes. Instead, the walls were covered in strange pictures and patterns, which slowly moved around. The light glinted off the patterns, making them look like jewels. It wasn't actually a maze though, as Eggman soon realised. It was a path, which clearly went up but it went in so many different directions it looked like a spider's web. The floor was transparent and Eggman gasped in horror when he saw faces pressed up against it. They looked spookily similar to the figure from Munch's 'The Scream' and he sighed in relief when he realised they weren't actually real people. He was still on his guard though as he slowly made his way forward.

Nothing seemed to attack him and this gave him a chance to look at the pictures properly. Dali, Magritte, Miro and many more masterpieces stared back at him. Occasionally a random object would float past him but they did not attack. In fact, apart from the pictures moving, the place was totally silent. Eggman was surprised that no one had attacked him yet; after all, he was not hidden by anything. There was nothing that could threaten him, unless the paintings suddenly started flying around. After a while, Eggman tried to avoid looking at the walls because they made him dizzy. He stopped when he heard a crackling sound and he looked around him. There was a crossroad ahead of him and as he got closer to it, he could see a figure.

It seemed to be made up of various materials and as it turned to face Eggman, he realised that it was female. Her hair was made of fire, her face of earth, her body of water and her wings of air. Wondering if this was even possible, he got out of his machine and walked towards her. He stopped abruptly when she moved, unsure of what she would do and was extremely surprised when she laughed.

"Don't worry, I will not hurt you. I am here to show you the way out of this place. After all, I assume you do not want to stay here forever?"

"No, I'd rather not. Why are you showing me the way? Aren't you just going to kill me?" Eggman asked puzzled.

"Now why would I do a thing like that? I have my reasons for helping you Robotnik." He frowned when he heard his name.

"How do you know my name?" She walked forward and he leapt into his machine, following her.

"I know a lot of things. I know for instance that you are here to save two people, hedgehogs to be exact..."

"Right, a wise guy. So what is this place then? How did it get here?"

"I haven't got time to tell you about that unfortunately. But talking of 'wise guys'..." She turned to Eggman. "It looks like you're one yourself. I'm sure you can work it out without my help." They walked in silence for several minutes. "This place, it is the creation of a twisted mind, something that would make most rational people question what they're seeing. It confuses the mind to make it weak..."

"But I'm not confused or anything! How come my mind isn't going weak?"

"Because I'm here. A voice in the silence to keep you thinking. If I were you, I wouldn't be asking how this place came about but /_who/_ made it come about. That is your greatest concern for it is the reason why your friends are here."

"You've seen Sonic and Shadow? Are they ok?" Eggman demanded.

"They will survive until you see them. However, they may not be sane... Did you not wonder if there was anything out there worse than you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know who you are /_Eggman/_, I know what you've done in the past. How you and Sonic have been at each other's throats."

"That's in the past. We've made a truce...for now. I know what I've done in the past but things have changed." He paused. "Are you saying that there is something bigger out there, watching what we're doing, waiting for us?"

"I wouldn't know for definite, I've never seen it but you have to consider what you've just said... And so yes, there probably is something controlling us all." They came to another set of cross roads and she considered for a moment which way to go.

"Like 'The Matrix'?"

"/'_The Matrix'/_?" She laughed scornfully. "Humans are stupid if they think that anything wants to control them."

"Excuse me, I'm a human." Eggman said coldly.

"Hopefully one who will be able to realise the truth in time. No, it's not like 'The Matrix'. It places no value in humans, most of them are too dumb to work out what's going on." She let him think about it for a moment. "Your friends are here for a reason..."

"Well...Shadow is the ultimate life form and Sonic is the fastest hedgehog..."

"You're thinking on the right lines but you've overlooked something so obvious... It's in front of you, all around you, in you..." She waved her arms around.

"What about you? Is this thing in you too?"

"No, it's not. I would be dead by now if it was. Don't worry about finding the answer to it, you'll know soon enough. Ask your black friend when you see him, he knows what it is, although he doesn't realise it."

"You mean Shadow? How would he know but not the rest of us?" Eggman asked.

"He was trusted by someone to keep a secret. But I've said too much now. You must hurry to catch up with everyone else, you are already behind. It is lucky that I was here to help you, do you know what you would have had to deal with if you were alone?" She pointed behind them and Eggman turned around.

Flames of fire licked over everything but for some strange reason, Eggman couldn't feel the heat. Things rained down from the sky and blood flowed on the floor. But where he was, there was nothing. It was like things only started happening when he wasn't there. Unless it was the person... He turned around but she had gone. Nothing remained of her but as he continued to look around, he saw a door ahead of him.

He walked to the door and just as he went through it, the room began to shake and collapse. Thankful he was barely in time, he closed the door behind of him, blocking off the world he had just gone through.

Silence

Random reader: 00 ..................?

Silence

Random reader: Err...hello?

Limbs appear on the screen flaying around

S. Chensu: Help us, we're dying!

Random reader: ARGH!!!!!!!!!!! Covers eyes

Lawyer: Sorry about that woof, it'll woof soon be gone. Woof.

Random reader: Phew, well that's ok then.

Lawyer: There, all gone.

Random reader: Uncovers eyes Wow, it /really/ is all gone. But what do I do now?

???: Review!

Random reader: W-who was that?

???: It's the ghost of the STREKS future.

Random reader: Oh no, please! Anything but the ghost of the STREKS future!

Ghost of the STREKS future: If you do not review then you'll be hated by everyone and your grave will be spat on!

Random reader: NO!

Ghost of the STREKS future: YES! So what are you going to do?

Random reader: REVIEW!

Ghost of the STREKS future: Good reader strokes reader on top of the head. Here, have another episode.

Random reader: Cocks head New episode? Where?

Ghost of the STREKS future: When the writers bring themselves back to life, get some of their exams done and can think of what to do next evil laugh.

Random reader: D'oh!

Ghost of the STREKS future: But it will be soon.

Random reader: It had better be!

Ghost of the STREKS future: Eek! Runs away

Random reader: Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Deep breath Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Deep breath Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Deep breath Hmm, this is getting boring now, I'd better review.

(This bit of randomness was brought to you by the 'Random R Us' company.)


	26. Bath time voyages

S. Chensu: Hello peeps. It seems that many people liked the author's note courtesy of 'Random R us' so we'll be doing some more anytime soon.

Luff: To help us in the next Random author's note, we're requesting that when you review, you can give us a little profile of you (made up or whatever) and you can be involved. We need the following:

Name

Personality (not looks necessarily. Are you a Gollum? A Donald Duck? A Sonic? A Boo-Bah? An Angry Beaver? A Teletubbie? A Kirby? Ok, this is getting ridiculous...)

Quotes (From films, books, games or whatever. Try not to make them too long)

And any ideas you have for randomness!

S. Chensu: We could turn this into our own fanfiction! Just like in my other story!

Luff: NO! Not long author's notes!

S. Chensu: Hehe! Anyway, reviewer replies!

the funk master- Glad you like the chapter and yes, it's the shortest one so far! And there's nothing wrong with Eggman... Cough What did you get from Random R us?

RichaCo- We think you're the only one who has. We think most of the information has been given but there'll be some more stuff in a Sonic and Shadow episode, not sure which one though.

Dragon Master Naya- We know, isn't randomness great?

Lewa Nuva- We're sorry for the lack of action, it should have some more soon. And if you think it's starting to get a bit boring, you might not want to bother with this story for a little while. See it works like this for the next few episodes: Tails, Sonic and Shadow, Marie, Sonic and Shadow, Rouge, Eggman. Then the group meet up again. That is when there's lots of action. So sorry... And sorry about not putting in Amy but yeah, we explained so... We are trying to write but we have been working on this story for a year, coming up with all the ideas and the last episode will be worth it, we hope. And plus we have other stories. Chen knows for a fact she has four other stories on the go and Luff has three stories. It's awful isn't it when you can't get the balance in chapters right. For instance, Chen has just done a chapter of one of her other stories and it's 40 pages long. But anyway... Nice to know you want to use our story, tell us when it's all done, if you do it and we'll look at it. If you do use our story though, please make sure that it has our names on it somewhere. Thankies for the support!

????- We haven't updated because Chen's the only one who really knows what's going on at the moment! And /Yugi/ (mostly Yami though), the tomb robber says hi and lots of love and kisses! You can be so hurtful sometimes; Kury doesn't think you deserve any wild passionate sex tonight!

Luff: Yes, the episode is late as usual (yes, we know by at least a week) but oh well. Chen's been having some problems with her new laptop.

S. Chensu: Yes, it's got Windows XP but it doesn't have Microsoft Word, only a Microsoft Works processor thing. And so when I tried to put a file from my laptop onto the computer, it screwed up the format completely. I managed to save it as a Word document but it's in something like HTML and has swapped bits round and put lines in between every character. If anyone knows how to solve this without me having to manually get rid of the spaces myself, please tell me in a review.

Luff: Now she's finished boring you with her computer problems, I'd like to point out we don't own anything in this apart from the usual stuff.

S. Chensu. Yeah.

Episode twenty-six: Bath time voyages 

Tails walked through the palm trees, pausing to wipe the sweat off his face. He looked back to the desert, only to find that it was no more, replaced by a swirling blackness making vague shapes, morphing from one thing to the next.

_I wonder what happened to that person..._ Tails thought as he continued forward in the Tornado, noticing it slow down slow down slightly. Maybe it was the humidity of the place getting into the mechanics but it shouldn't be affecting it so much, it was made not to rust.

The palm trees soon petered out, replaced by a grassy bank leading down to a sparkling river, soundless apart from the running of water over stones. There didn't appear to be any major dangers, until he suddenly felt himself falling forward. He screamed as he landed on the ground, staring upwards at the clear blue sky and it took him several moments to realise a yellow and blue object was floating into the air: the Tornado.

"What? No, don't go!" He wasn't quite sure why he had yelled this out, it was clear the machine wasn't alive...yet it had managed to force him out. It ignored him, continuing to move upwards as it grew smaller and smaller and smaller...

Then it was gone. Not a speck of it remained. Tails had lost his only connection to the real world, now he was alone in a place that was beyond his scientific understanding and logical thinking. None of this should have been possible, how many different ecosystems had he seen squashed together, making one big mess? And that wasn't the only mess, everything had been changed, unbalancing Tails' psyche. And now he had to work out what to do next.

_I was going towards the building but I can't see it any more._ He looked up the mountains but could only see grey and white.

Snap.

Tails jumped when he heard the noise, only to be faced by a blurry figure that pushed him backwards. He stumbled, falling down the bank and landing in the river. He was just glad he could swim as he kicked himself to the surface of the water, gulping in the air when he reached it. Then he saw it: a boat sitting in the middle of the river completely still, despite the lack of ropes. Ignoring this problem for the moment, he swam over to it and hauled himself up, allowing him to look at it properly.

It wasn't anything special, just your average fishing boat that you could spend a lazy afternoon in the sunshine in. But it was different to most boats as it soon proved when it started sailing down the river.

"Wait, I don't want to be in here!" Tails yelled as he was thrown onto a seat. He sat up properly and stared in amazement at the person sitting at the front, glistening in the light. You couldn't make out and distinct features but it had long flowing hair, which moved in the gentle breeze. He blinked and they disappeared. Shrugging his shoulders, Tails allowed himself to be carried down the river, giving him time to ponder over everything that happened recently.

_I'm pretty sure that person wasn't the same one as before... But even if that's true, I /still/ don't know who they are. I'm pretty sure the one I just saw was a girl and I get the feeling I know her from somewhere but it's probably me just wanting something familiar here._ Tails sighed as he lay down on the bench, staring up at the sky. _I wonder where the Tornado is; I don't really want to try and have to re build it. I spent a lot of time on it and it's proved really useful in the past._

The voice fell silent as Tails continued to lie back on the boat, failing to notice the rocking and the increase in outside noise. Until he was violently thrown onto the bottom of the boat, knocking his head hard on the wood. He sat up quickly and glanced over the edge of the boat, only to gasp in horror at the sight he saw.

The trees on either side of the river were rapidly disappearing and being replaced by muddy grass, lining the water, which unlike before was now cloudy and dirty. It seethed and bubbled underneath him, like a creature was trying to break through. He followed the water and saw something that panicked him greatly: the river falling away into nothingness, no longer supported by mud and rocks.

"St!" But it was too late, before he could fly away to safety, the ground fell away along with the boat and he tumbled down the waterfall.

He crashed into the water, sinking, sinking down into the deep abyss, unable to stop himself. The light grew fainter and he reached upwards, desperate to hold onto his conscious. He couldn't close his eyes; he had to save Sonic and Shadow. He needed to talk to Knuckles and Rouge. He wanted to see Eggman... He longed to hold Marie.

Tails gasped for air as he surfaced, spluttering and coughing to get the water out of his lungs. When he finally had the chance to look around, he found that he was now floating in a lake, and in the distance all around him he could see trees lining the shores. He turned to see the waterfall plunging down behind him, but he was now a surprising distance away from it.

_What am I going to do?_ He thought as he swam towards one edge of the lake, but saw that this was obviously not going to get him very far as the shore only seemed to be getting further away.

"Hello?! Can anybody hear me?!" Tails yelled, panic over taking him as he floundered uselessly in the water. "HELP!!" He looked up and gasped as he saw someone flying over him, wings beating elegantly above them. They flew down in circles until they were hovering just above him, but before they had the chance to talk a thunderous roar was heard from behind Tails. "ARGH!" Tails yelled as he felt something claw at his back, before being pulled back into the water by the thing that Tails could only assume was some sort of monster.

Tails struggled as hard as he could as he fought the beast away, kicking and punching at what he thought might resemble its head. He recoiled as he saw the monster flash red in front of him, before it exploded everywhere. _How...? What's going on?_ Shaking his head, Tails swam back up to the surface. He drew in a deep breath, and gasped in horror when he saw what now surrounded him: monsters. Hundreds upon thousands of the most hideous creatures you could ever think possible, all staring at him with blood red angry eyes.

"Uhh...help?" Tails said meekly, before screaming and swimming away as fast as he could. This was proved to pretty pointless though, as he soon found that the monsters were soon catching up with him; and then he found himself completely surrounded by them.

"Tails!" Tails looked up and saw that the winged person was once again flying over him, and was signalling for him to dive down.

"But I'll drown!"

"I'll protect you. Go!" The figure swooped down at him; so he dived down to avoid it. He stayed under, his eyes squeezed tight shut. How long would he have to stay under? One minute... two minutes... three minutes went by. Tails was wondering why he hadn't drowned. Or maybe he had. Was he dead? Tails opened his eyes and found that he was alive, and he could see everything around far more accurately then he should have been able to.

_What?! _After a moment of studying his situation, Tails found that some sort of bubble surrounded his head. How did that happen? _It must have been that person..._ He thought as he swam forwards, not really sure of where he should be going. He couldn't see any monsters for the moment, but was still cautious for their return.

_Tails! Keep swimming! _Tails stopped when he heard the voice in his head, and turned his head around just in time to see something flash past him. _Go!!_ Tails decided he should do what the voice told him, so he continued onwards, not really sure whether he was going in the right direction. He could now hear things shooting past behind him, getting ever closer to him as he felt himself slowing down.

Tails could see some rocks appearing in front of him, so he swam down and continued his journey through them hoping that they would give him some sort of protection. He could now see the winged person swimming over his head, shooting out blue beams at the surrounding monsters that were now pressing in around him.

_Tails! You must hurry!_ Now more determined, Tails put all of his effort into swimming as fast as he could, not slowing down once, even when his muscles began to burn with pain. He swam upwards as he saw the light growing brighter overhead, going faster and faster until he finally reached the surface, and gasped for breath as he surfaced.

Tails landed in a bay, tall white cliffs over towering it and finally glad of seeing some land; he swam over to the beach and hauled himself out. He looked up and saw the building at the top, the one he had been searching for! He ran up the stairs, desperate to find out why it was so important but was stopped by a pair of black wings.

"What? What's wrong now?" He yelled in frustration and the wings conceded, allowing him to continue forward. He stood at the bottom of the large, black marble steps and climbed slowly, wondering why he had been cautioned just now. _Is there something bad?_

At the top was a door and written on the door was a verse of some sort. Tails peered closer, running his fingers over the letters as he read it.

In marble walls as white as milk,

Lined with skin as soft as silk;

Within a fountain crystal clear,

A golden apple doth appear.

No doors there are to this stronghold --

Yet thieves break in and steal the gold.

What was that supposed to mean? He read over the verse again, trying to find some hidden but nothing appeared. He didn't know what to do now...

_It's a riddle. You have to solve it._ He heard from behind him and turning around, he saw the figure, invisible apart from the wings.

"A riddle? Oh I see!" Tails exclaimed and he read over it for the third time. "Something that is white? But it has something inside, something precious. Gold?" Tails tried to think of an object but came up with none. "If there isn't a door, it can't be a building. But people can get in, which means it can be broken..." He looked over the lines. "And the gold is something clear." Then it suddenly hit him, it was so obvious! "It's an egg!" Tails shouted and the words started to glow before disappearing.

The doors swung open inwards and Tails took a couple of steps forward before looking back to the figure. It seemed to nod its head and reassured, Tails continued forward until what appeared to be the hall, although it was too dark to tell properly. Yet there were torches on the wall, even if they were unlit. Something flashed in front of him, a glittering ball that bounced up and down but did little else. Tails reached out to it, feeling the warmth and he grabbed it, the light getting bigger until it covered him. And then he was gone.

S. Chensu: Yay, finished!

Luff: And it's even more crap than the others but at least it's done.

S. Chensu: Apologising again for the lateness, but the next few chapters will be late like this one is. All because of my AS Level exams. You see, I have 10 exams in the space of four days and I have to actually revise for them so until the 10th of June, there won't be any more chapters. But then I have four days off so I'll be writing lots.

Luff: If you're wondering why I'm not doing them it, it's because of ideas. I did most of the beginning as the ideas were mine but these level chapters are mostly Chen's ideas. And seeing as we're on them now, I'm not doing much as I don't know what's going to happen. And I don't want to go and change all of Chen's cool ideas.

S. Chensu: Sorry if you didn't understand that... But just remember, no more chapters until the 10th of June at least. There might be one but seeing as the next one is a Sonic and Shadow chapter, probably not as they're longer.

Luff: But please review and sorry for the long delay!

(S. Chensu: Ssh, Luff doesn't know about this bit but I thought you might like to know it's her birthday on Sunday and she's going to be 15! So from me, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You can say happy birthday to her too in your reviews, it'll make her very happy!)


	27. Truth and fact

S. Chensu: I am so very sorry! This was supposed to be up a month ago and I didn't do anything because I was working on my two Yu-Gi-Oh! stories, which I'm posting up soon. As well as that, they're piling on the work at school, despite the fact I've just sat my AS Levels and it was my birthday! 

Luff: But she won't post them up until we've finished this one! We're going on Guide camp in about two weeks time so we have to get the rest of it up by then. Should be easy ...

S. Chensu: I wish. Luckily I have a day off tomorrow (Tuesday) so I'll try and get twenty-eight done then. Fortunately these ones are short so they can be typed up quickly!

Luff: Yeah, we haven't had time for any random author's notes but hopefully Chen can get that done tomorrow! That's a point; we're still accepting profiles so send them in!

S. Chensu: 00; Thanks for that...

Luff: Anyway, onto reviewer replies!

The anonymous peers- Thank you for your profiles, /Mai and Yugi/! By the way Yugi, your quotes are wrong but we know the ones you mean. Thanks for the birthday greetings!

The funk master- Thankies for the review and it's good to know that others go shopping in 'Random R Us' as well. Are the stocks doing well? And THANK YOU SO MUCH for putting us in your recommend to others! It has given us big grins of happiness! :D x2

RichaCo- Could you give us some riddles? We have one about a tree but that's it. They have to rhyme though! Thank you for the review and the identities of everyone will be revealed /very/ soon. Well in about five episodes' time!

Dragon Master Naya- Thank you for the profile, we will be using them soon! Yum yum, chocolate sauce. Not sure about rice pudding, that stuff always looks really lumpy. But good idea!

Streek471- Thanks for the character, he will be in here but he won't have a major part. Maybe he'll be a hostage or something... We will incorporate him though!

Nisus- Yay, long reviews are good! Thank you for the birthday greetings! I think Tails' rudeness is just a build up of emotions and little kids think saying rude words is funny so it's probably got something to do with that too. It's nice to think that we might be good authors who can pull the wool over everyone's eyes but probably not! We don't watch Angel, well we tried too but we always forgot because it was on late! But we have seen a lot of Buffy! Apart from we missed out two series so it was very confusing... Yeah, another British person! Why are there so few? ;; Thank you for the luck, Chen hopes they've gone ok.

Yasha-demon- It is thanks to you that we've finally got on with this! Thank you for reviewing, we know what you mean, it happens all the time with us! Sisters are cool, most of the time!

S. Chensu: So many reviewers! Thank you so very much! I have an enquiry to make to everyone, but I'll leave it for a few weeks...

Luff: ?? What is she talking about? Nevermind, we don't own anything, except for the stuff we own. Hmm...

Episode twenty-seven: Truth and fact 

Sonic and Shadow waited in silence, not able to think of much to say while Shaylea and Kensa were gone. By now they were fed up of waiting around for something to happen, they couldn't tell how much time had passed, it could have been days or minutes. They had counted all the bricks and stones that made up the room and playing 'I spy' soon became boring, as they were limited to stone, stone or more stone.

"Shadow, what if they've gone to kill them? Or what if we're taken away while they're gone?" Sonic asked, breaking the resting air molecules with his near screeching voice.

"Nothing will happen. It's like they said, they've gone to check on the others and they'll be back soon." Shadow replied calmly, not bothering to get himself worked up over Sonic's attitude.

"But they've been gone for ages!"

"It just feels like ages. Be patient, they will return, they have done before and they will now."

"But I'm not a patient person! How can you sit there with your arms crossed looking like it's perfectly normal for you to be chained into a cage?" Shadow opened his eyes and Sonic saw there was a glint of anger in them. Have I said something wrong? Shadow never usually shows any emotions and now...

"It was normal for me to be in a cage, a long time ago. I'm generations older than you; I know the meaning of the word patient. If you can't get the idea through your thick skull then I don't see the point in continuing with this."

"Why do you always treat me like I'm an idiot? Just because I haven't been around for as long as you, doesn't mean I'm not as good as you. I thought you had changed..." Sonic turned away, only to growl when he felt Shadow grab his arm, forcing him back round.

"I /have/ changed, it's you who's so high and mighty, you can't even see past your own nose! You're pathetic, the others are coming to find us and you can't even trust them to get to us! You don't think they can do anything on their own, you take the credit for everything!"

"Do I detect a little jealousy? That is what's pathetic, not me! You're just annoyed you didn't get any credit for the whole ARK thing."

Sonic's eyes shined, he knew he was right. He was therefore surprised when he felt something connect with his face: Shadow's fist. He stumbled backwards, hissing in pain and the bars dug into his back, causing him to move forward. He snarled at Shadow who stood above him, smirking at him and he launched himself at him, landing on top of him on the ground. They started to roll around, punching and kicking whenever they could, not noticing the door of the room opening.

"What the hell is going on here?" A voice yelled as they rushed towards the cages, eyes widening as they swung wildly from side to side. Soon they were standing in front of them, opening the door and pulling them apart. "What are you two doing?"

Sonic and Shadow looked away from each other and turned to Shaylea and Kensa, who looked both tired and bewildered at what was happening. Instantly they bit their lips and looked down at the ground, unable to hold their gazes.

"If we let go, will you try and kill each other again?" Kensa said ironically and getting no response, she relaxed her grip on Shadow and Shaylea did the same. "Right, now we're all sitting down, would you care to explain yourselves?"

"There is nothing to explain. He's being an idiot as usual." Shadow said, earning a glare from Sonic and a set of sighs from the two girls.

"Will you stop saying that?" Sonic shouted and leaned towards him. "Anyway, you were the one who punched me! Where's your theory about patience now?"

"Patience? What has that got to do with this?" Shaylea asked, looking from one to the other.

"Everything! He couldn't sit here and wait for you two so he started ranting and raging instead! Apparently it's all my fault..." Shadow said, not willing this had anything to do with him.

"Well to be honest, I don't particularly care whose fault it is. Just sort it out please, now is not the time to be having arguments. Especially as they give me a headache." Kensa grumbled, sinking down onto the risen ground, her head flopping forward slightly. "We've been going for hours..."

"But at least we found some stuff out." Shaylea said to reassure her friend. She hated seeing her depressed; Kensa was the only reason she survived in this place. When Kensa didn't respond, Shaylea put her arms around her and hugged her tightly. "Don't worry, it's going to be ok..."

"I know, I just feel so tired." She leant her head on Shaylea's shoulder and closed her eyes. "Tell me what it's going to be like..." It was obvious this had happened many times before but Shaylea still smiled, closing her eyes to get the image in front of her.

"We'll get out of here and then we're going to go travelling. First we'll go to London and see the clothes and the shows, the people dancing and singing on stage, full of excitement and life. Then we'll go around Europe, through the canals and food and sun and ruins and when we're bored we can go and see the wildlife in Africa, the grasslands and seas and deserts, glittering greens and yellows, heat shimmering off the surface and the bright colours of the people, blues and reds, dyed and woven together. And then Asia, the mountains rising above the sky, covered in snow and the spices in the markets, people talking to each other under the shade away from the glare of the day. And in Australia, we'll swim in the Great Barrier Reef and watch the fishes flicking past us, the coral changing as the water swirls around it. We'll finish in America, visiting the jungles before moving up to the cities, where the people live and we'll live amongst them, doing whatever we want to do..." She stopped talking and Kensa shifted slightly although her eyes remained closed.

"And then we can rest..." She whispered, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Then we can rest. No one will hassle us again and maybe we'll both be happy one day." Shaylea agreed and she fell into silence, waiting for Kensa to fall asleep.

Once she had done so, she laid her down gently on the ground and taking the blanket from the empty cage, placed it over her sleeping form. When this was done, she sighed softly, brushing the hair away from her face before turning back to Sonic and Shadow, smiling at them.

"I suppose you want to know about your friends?" She suddenly said, not seeing the surprised looks that Sonic and Shadow gave each other, only just realising what they were going through, or what had happened to them in the past.

"Shaylea, we never knew..." Shadow said, sounding ashamed. "We're so sorry for fighting when you and Kensa have been working so hard."

"It doesn't matter, as long as you realise what's happened." She replied, shrugging her shoulders. "We're used to it now but you aren't. That's why we've been working so hard. I told Kensa to have a break but she ignored me. Maybe it's because she's always the one protecting me, although I am the oldest."

"Have you been down here for that long now?" Sonic asked, curious at how she could seem so happy in the situation she was in.

"Yes...I don't remember much of before, I think they try and make you forget. But I'll know for sure one day." She laughed and smiled again. "So then about your friends..."

"You saw them?"

"Yes, they're nearby now. It won't be long before they arrive but there'll be time for a couple of things to do until you meet them." She started, stopping when she saw the look on Sonic's face.

"Are they all ok? Have they found each other yet?"

"They're ok, they're not perfect but they'll survive until they meet. They're still apart though, It has become aware of their presence and I don't think they were expected to last this long. They must be very strong, they do not realise what could have happened to them if they didn't believe in what they were looking for. You must all hold a strong bond..." She said quietly, looking at them with sympathy, making them feel only guiltier than before.

"You obviously don't know the truth then. We used to be enemies, fighting for what we believed was right." Shadow eventually said, sighing and leaning against the bars. "But then things changed and we pulled together."

"What happened?" Shaylea asked, her eyes wide with an innocence rarely seen in people.

So together Sonic and Shadow explained the ARK incident and when they were finished, Shaylea wondered how they had managed to save the world after everything they had done to each other and how this new relationship had survived this long. But then she remembered Rouge and Knuckles and what they had between them, although things were different now.

"Wow, you've been through so much but still you're together. You must have dedicated friends, ignoring what else has happened in order to find you again. They will survive, I know it." She stopped and looked down at Kensa, suddenly remembering she was there. "I'll be back in a few minutes, I'll just put Kensa into bed and get some food for you."

"Thank you Shaylea."

"No problem, we have to keep going when things like this happens." She stood up and holding her hands in front of her, palm downwards, made Kensa float into the air and down into the darkness.

Soon she was back, looking more refreshed as she carried a tray of food and drink for the prisoners. She set it down in front of them and watched as they ate, hunger evident in their features. Suddenly they stopped though and looked up at her nervously.

"Don't you want anything Shaylea?"

"No, I'm not that hungry at the moment and anyway, I can just make myself something later on. Now eat, don't worry about me." They did as she said hesitantly and eventually had had their fill. She put the tray to the side so she could talk to them better.

"Do you know when they will take us?" Sonic asked and Shaylea frowned, thinking about how to word her answer.

"It will be soon. I think they're waiting for your friends, obviously they're playing with them and seeing how much they can go through before It strikes." She eventually settled on, not sure if there was a better way of putting it while still telling the truth.

"Do you know what It is?"

"The boss of this place, do you remember us telling you about it before?" They nodded their heads and she sighed. "I would tell you all I could about it if I knew anything. We've never seen It, apparently Gregg has but he's never mentioned it. We asked him once but he ignored us, maybe he doesn't want to open up old wounds."

"But I thought you said that you had tried to rebel before but were struck down?"

"We have but obviously we're not considered that important as we were dealt with by the flunkies and that's it." She paused and rubbed her arm. "But it still hurt..."

"Are there other prisoners here?" Shadow suddenly said, trying to get her mind off what had happened.

"Yes but I rarely see them, probably in case we club together and revolt. Not that many people here have the courage to do that anymore. The only reason Gregg helps us is because he has hope, he's been here too long, he stopped caring for so long but suddenly he wanted to do something again. That was not long after we arrived, we were both scared and he helped us out, as much as he could." She looked around and frowned. "Hey, where is Gregg anyway?"

"We don't know. He came in here to open our cages, don't know why though." Shadow explained and Shaylea raised an eyebrow.

"Oh well, nevermind. He does odd things like that sometimes, when he's busy thinking." She shrugged her shoulders and smiled in reassurance. "Well I had better go now, I think it's time I showed you something."

"What?"

"Oh you'll find out as soon as I can bring it here. You might have to wait a while though, I need to go and get some sleep." She yawned loudly and then laughed. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. Go and do what you have to do, we'll be waiting here for you." Sonic said cheerfully.

"Not like we can do anything else..." Shadow muttered and Shaylea laughed again.

"Good night Sonic and Shadow..."

"Is it night time then?"

"I don't know to be honest, but it always seems to be night time here..." She looked around once before leaving the two hedgehogs, who watched her disappear with sadness. Now they were alone, again...

S. Chensu: Short but at least it's done. Now we're back into the swing of things after such a long break, the others will be up quicker. Especially since I have a day off tomorrow and I finish school on Friday.

Luff: It's all right for some! I've got four days left of work experience left and then back to school until Wednesday.

S. Chensu: Hehe! Anyway, please review and yet again we're sorry for taking so long.


	28. Haunted Copse

S. Chensu: And now, for the start of the first official random author's note!

Naya: Holding a bottle of chocolate sauce Rock and pool, is nice and cool, so juicy sweeeeeeeeeet! Suddenly the bottle gains legs and jumps out of Naya's hands No, not the precious!

Yugi: Walking along, whistling tunelessly Life is brilliant, I am happy, everyone is happy, we're all friends... Gets hit on the head by the bottle of chocolate sauce Hello, what is this? Reads the label Chocolate sauce? What the...? Oh well, doesn't look like it belongs to anyone... Carries on walking

Naya: WHERE IS THE PRECIOUS? Sees Yugi and walks over Excuse us hobbit, could you help us?

Yugi: Who you calling a hobbit? I'll have you know I'm five foot tall!

Naya: Four foot three, five foot, it's all the same to us... Anyway, have you seen our precious?

Yugi: What does it look like?

Naya: Goes all gooey eyed The precious is the most wonderful thing... It's juicy and sweeeeeeeeeet...

Yugi: Looks at bottle and then hides it in his pocket No, I haven't seen your...err...precious at all.

Naya: You're lying! Now gives us the precious!

Yugi: I don't have it, honestly! Light bulb appears above Yugi's head Ok, I do know where your precious is. And I'll tell you if you play a little game with me.

Naya: What sort of game?

Yugi: Tell me what's in my pocket. And you only have one guess.

Naya: Thinks for a moment and then narrows eyes as he sees the brown stain on Yugi's trousers THE PRECIOUS! YOU HAVE THE PRECIOUS! NOW GIVE IT TO US! Leaps after Yugi

Yugi: How could you tell?

Naya: Stops in midair You've got a big brown stain on your trousers...

Yugi: Damn it, I have? Looks down Crap, and they're my best pair too!

Naya: ROAR!!!!!!!!!!

Yugi: NO, DON'T KILL ME! HELP ME SOMEONE! Yodelling is heard in background Oh no, I didn't mean /that/ sort of help...

S. Chensu (in Bakura mode): I'll save you my love!

Yugi: Oh no, oh no, I do /not/ want your help!

S. Chensu (in Bakura mode): Sees chocolate sauce Chocolate sauce? On my love? Wahoo! Proceeds to run towards Yugi in a manic manner

Yugi: ARGH! Runs on his short stumpy legs from both Naya and S. Chensu Don't hurt me!

S. Chensu (in Bakura mode): I don't want to hurt you; I just want to love you!

Yugi: That's even worse! Stops suddenly when he runs out of breath Fine then, have your stupid precious back! Throws bottle of chocolate sauce to Naya Fetch!

Naya: Catches bottle and hugs it close to self The precious is ours once more! Naya is FREE!

Yugi: Sits down on the ground Phew, that's tired me out...

S. Chensu (in Bakura mode): Not too much I hope /my/ precious...

Yugi: Oh God, not you again! Sighs as S. Chensu sits down next to him and looks at his trousers What am I going to do with these?

S. Chensu (in Bakura mode): I'll help you get them off if you want...

Yugi: No, that's quite all right... 00;

S. Chensu: Leans forward No, I insist...

Yugi: MAI, HELP ME!

Naya: We now interrupt this official random author's note for a STREKS newsflash, the episode can finally be posted up after being blocked for two weeks because of a deleted story so now it is brought to you by S. Chensu and Luff Inc.

Episode twenty-eight: Haunted copse 

Marie watched warily as she stood at the edge of the woods, wondering what the worse thing that could be in there. Maybe it was a big ferocious bear, or a slavering wolf, or a man following her, axe shining in the moonlight as it cut her down, no one able to help...

No, I must stop thinking like that, it'll only make me feel even worse... She thought and she walked forward in determination, not letting her fears get to her as best as she could.

She looked up at the sky, stuffed in between the small gaps in the trees and saw that it was now a orange colour, tinted by pink at one end and purple the other, showing the different stages of sunset. Although it looked beautiful it only reminded Marie that soon it would be dark and if there was one thing she hated, it was the dark. But she had to get through, to see Tails again. And not just him but everyone else too. Maybe she would even find out who that mysterious person was who helped her. She had never really got a chance to thank them and considering what they had done for her, she should really try to find them again.

"I wonder who they were...I recognise them from somewhere, I don't know why though. After all, I don't anyone who can do that sort of thing and the voice was different and so was just about everything else but it's just a...feeling." She said to herself, so she could hear something else apart from silence in the evening air. Silence usually meant there was danger about and she'd rather not think about that possibility...

"It is dangerous to speak aloud in a place like this. It shows weakness..." Marie spun around in panic when she heard the voice but could see nothing, only trees glowing in the last of the light and in the far distance, a river, the one she had crossed over not long ago. How long ago was it anyway? There was little indication of time in this place and although the sky was getting dark, that did not mean it was night time. After all, she saw the various landscapes earlier and the skies seemed to be different for each one.

But I'm not supposed to be thinking about that. Where did that voice come from? She continued to look around her, still unable to find the source of the voice. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I cannot answer the first one but as to the second one...do you not want someone to keep you safe? Just think of me as your guardian angel." They seemed to say this bit kindly and so Marie tried to be relieved. At least they hadn't hurt her yet.

"Will you help me get to where I've got to get to?" She said, stepping towards where she thought the person was.

"Yes, I will help you. You deserve it, after all, you must find your friends."

Suddenly a wind swept through the air and Marie covered her face with her arm, squinting against the wind. Soon it died down and she looked up, gasping when she saw the person in front of her. It wavered in the air, like the atoms were struggling to stay together but soon they condensed into what was almost definitely a female, although they were still near invisible. It stood in front of her and looked down, see through holes where her eyes were supposed to be. Marie shivered slightly, turning around and walking forward hesitantly.

"How long will it take us to get there?" She asked quietly, feeling, rather than hearing the figure fall into step with her.

"As long as you need to take." It merely replied, seeming to shrug its shoulders.

"Are you not affected by this place then?"

"Yes, but not in the same way as you. This is what the place has decided to test you with; it is up to you to pass its test. I can only watch over you, I cannot interrupt in anything it decides to do." It fell into silence and Marie frowned, wondering what they meant by her being tested.

"Will it be hard?" She said nervously, shooting the figure a glance and it turned to look at her, laughing.

"It depends on whether you think you can pass it or not." It replied, continuing to chuckle to itself.

"What's that supposed to mean? How am I to know whether I can pass if I don't even know what it is?"

"Don't you? I obviously didn't think that bit would need to be explained to you." It paused in its talking. "Take a look around you, if you dare, and then maybe then you'll realise what it is."

Marie was just about to turn around until she heard the words 'if you dare'. What was nearby that was so bad? At least she wasn't alone anymore... So she looked around her and saw that the main colour was now black and suddenly the trees seemed to have grown by several feet, hanging over the path they were walking along, looking like fingers that were brushing through her hair while the wind seemed to run up and down her skin, going through her clothes and touching her everywhere. She shivered in fright, she had never experienced anything like this before and all she could tell was that she definitely did not like it. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to block out the feeling but failing as it increased, completely taking her over...

She heard a crackling noise and opened her eyes, widening them when she saw a wall of fire gradually going all the way around her. At first she panicked, thinking it was trying to hurt her until she realised that she couldn't feel any heat or pain from the flames. It was then she also noticed that the sensation of being touched didn't seem to exist anymore either. Soon it was completely gone, as was the fire and she sighed in relief until she saw that the figure was also gone. All that was left behind was a branch lying in front of her, a fire smouldering on the end, yet it wasn't burning anything. She picked it up, thankful for the little light it provided as she continued onwards.

Just think of me as your guardian angel... She gasped when she heard the voice in her head but recognised it as the person from earlier. It was nice to know she was still being watched over, even if she couldn't see them...

As Marie continued into the night, she soon realised the true properties of the flame. Despite the fact the branch was big, it was actually quite light to carry and the fire seemed to increase in its intensity whenever she felt scared. It dulled when she was going in the wrong direction too and soon she could feel herself travelling upwards to what she assumed was that strange black building.

She knew that that building was the centre of everything and that when she got there, she would see the others and maybe it would lead them to Sonic and Shadow too. But what happened if she couldn't get in, if there was another challenge she had to complete? What would it be and could she succeed? She suddenly thought back to the words of the person from earlier: It depends on whether you think you can pass it or not. Marie knew she could do anything this place threw at her; after all, she was here for a reason. And she wasn't going to stop until she found everyone again. She was going to prove her worth...

"But first you must complete the test." There was no tone in the words, like a robot had said them, merely an instruction. She looked at the steps leading up to the doors and started walking up them, her steps slowing down as she reached the top. She stared at the dragon on the front, rearing up, challenging whoever tried to enter the place.

"What do I have to do?" She asked, mainly to herself and was therefore surprised when she saw words appear on the door, erasing the dragon from her sight.

In Spring I look gay,

Decked in comely array,

In Summer more clothing I wear;

When colder it grows,

I fling off my clothes,

And in Winter quite naked appear.

It's a riddle... That bit was obvious; the bit she was worried about was the answer. It could be anything... But it can't, there has to be an answer otherwise they couldn't ask it...

She thought about things that changed throughout the year and wore clothes of some sort. She could have said a person but she didn't know anyone who was crazy enough to not wear clothes during winter but wear loads in the summer. Maybe she was looking at it the wrong way...

"Oh I don't know!" She huffed and slumped onto the ground, tired and wanting a rest. She stared at the scenery before her, leaves falling from the trees as she shivered from the wind blowing through the air. "Wait a minute!" She looked at the trees again. They were losing leaves but it was getting colder... "It's a tree!" She said gleefully and punched the air when the words lit up, the door gradually opening.

Marie stepped inside and wondered at the unlit torches. It felt like someone had been here recently but they hadn't done anything and she suddenly remembered the branch in her hand. She lifted it up to light the brackets on the wall and soon there were several crackling noises as they burnt away. Now she could see better she took a look around but stopped when she saw the light bouncing in front of her. Ignoring the room and what was in it, she stepped forward and ran her hand through the ball, gasping when she felt herself getting lighter...

Yugi: MAI, HELP ME!

Mai: Comes running onto the screen Sorry hon, I've got other, more important things to do!

Yugi: What could be more important than this predicament?

S. Chensu (In Bakura mode): Me, heh heh...

Yugi: ARGH!

Luff (In Téa mode): Scanning the area manically Right, where is it, where is it?

Nasha: Where's what?

Luff (In Téa mode): The pig!

Yasha: What pig?

Mai: The pig known as the people. Luff's just had her story deleted for having too much Sprite in it!

Yasha: What, you mean that wonderful mixture of lemon and lime in a drink?

Mai: No, not literally! Some people are /so/ dense...

Yasha: Who are you calling dense?

Mai: You truly are a moron...

Yasha: Watch it or I'll use this on you! Brandishes a flamethrower

Mai: And what do you think you're going to do with that?

Yasha: Just watch and learn! Turns the gas on then presses the button Moohaha, I rule over all!

Luff (In Téa mode): PIG!

Yasha: Suddenly stops Where? Where's the pig? Sees a very fat pink thing cowering away from Luff and her roast spit spear PIG! Goes completely crazy and starts running after it

Pig 's true form): Please don't hurt us; we only wanted to protect the minds of the innocent ones...

Téa: Well they should have read the warning then, shouldn't they?

Pig 's true form): It's got nothing to do with us! Squeals loudly and continues running HELP ME!

Everyone else: NO!

Yasha: Mad glint in eyes Pig, pig, pig, pig... Continues chanting as the pig is finally cornered

Luff (in Téa mode): Now we've got you...

S. Chensu (In Cosy-Heart penguin mode): No, don't hurt him my friends!

Mai: Get out of the way, you stupid purple ball of fluff!

S. Chensu (In Cosy-Heart penguin mode): No, forgive the pig and feel your hearts warm up!

Luff (In Téa mode): Shut up! Skewers S. Chensu

S. Chensu (In Cosy-Heart penguin mode): I only wanted to be your friend... Dies

Luff (In Téa mode): Flings S. Chensu away Right, now that that's finished with, let's get back to the real problem...

Yugi: Yeah, the fact I've got a very horny tomb robber slobbering over me... No, not the shirt, please...

S. Chensu (In Bakura mode): But you look so much better without it on...

Luff (In Téa mode): No, not that! The problem of the pig!

Yugi: I've /got/ a problem with a pig too!

S. Chensu (In Bakura mode): Me? You're the only one out of the two of us who squeals whenever they're... Lowers voice hot and bothered...

Yasha: Yuck, we don't want to hear that!

Mai: I agree, let's finish the pig off! Turns back to the pig and finds it has gone ARGH, IT'S DISAPPEARED! Where the hell has it gone?

Luff (In Téa mode): I don't know but we have to find it now!

Yasha, Mai and Luff run off the screen

S. Chensu (In Bakura mode): Finally, we're alone...

Naya: Hello, what are strange people doing on the floor with no clothes on?

S. Chensu (In Bakura mode): DAMN IT, WHEN AM I GOING TO GET MY LOVE TO MYSELF?

Yugi: Never, hopefully...

Naya: Let's go and hunt some smelly orcs-es precious!

S. Chensu (In Bakura mode): You may have got out of it this time little Yugi but I /will/ have you...

Yugi: Hopefully not before the end of the story...

Naya: Next from the S. Chensu and Luff Inc. is an important notice!

Thank you for all the reviews, we're now feeling confident that we can reach one hundred before the end of the story! But until then, many thankies again and tell us what you think of any part of this story! Did you like the official random author's note or not? Did you like the chapter? Are you fed up of us not putting stuff up on time? If you have any comments, please feel free to tell us about them!


	29. Horror's Summit

S. Chensu: We're back from camp and ready to put up a new chapter of the STREKS gang just for you!

Luff: We're going on holiday again tomorrow though so there won't be another chapter until next Saturday or Sunday.

S. Chensu: But unlike guide camp I'll have my laptop with me so I can type as I write, meaning I won't have to type it up from my notepad, like I'm doing at the moment.

Luff: We'll try and get the rest of the individual episodes while we're gone so then we can work really hard on the final episodes to make them brilliant, because you're all so brilliant.

S. Chensu: Now she's finished ass kissing, we can get onto reviewer replies:

RichaCo- Thank you for the riddles, sorry we didn't use one last episode but Chen was desperate to use the tree one. We'll use one this episode, promise.

Yugi- Don't be so shocked that we updated! Anyway, guide camp was fun!

Celestial the Hedgrid- Yay, another reviewer! Thank you for the support! And yes, we think the whole "too much Sprite" thing is a bit silly too but Chen kind of thought it might happen too.

RavenGhost- Here is the update for you but the place isn't so spooky this time... There will be another riddle though and hopefully that'll keep you happy.

the funk master- You'll find out what she is going to show them next episode and we can tell you right now that it /isn't/ a monkey! But the thing she's going to show them has been mentioned before. Damn, now we've given it away!

myuutgoi- Here is the update /Yugi/ and it's late because a certain Luff got us blocked for two weeks as her story was deleted.

S. Chensu (a.k.a. Mai)- Will you stop pretending to be Chen, you panicked her again and made her think she'd lost her memory. And Chen loves that song, "I'm a classy honey, kissy huggy, lovey dovey ghetto princess!" As you can tell.

Captain Yasha- We are so so so sorry! Chen has no idea why she put Nasha instead of Yasha. But now we know and it won't happen again! Not sure about the whole Pegasus thing, seeing as he isn't little...

Dragon Master Naya- It's good to know you still have the precious and don't be too paranoid or you might go crazy...

Streek471- We're trying to make the chapters long but it is a bit difficult. They will start getting longer though in a couple of episodes time as they'll all be back together by then. Thank you for the high score though.

Luff: Thank you for all the lovely reviews, they've kept us going! As usual, we don't own Sonic, we just own the usual things.

S. Chensu: Hmm...

**Episode twenty-nine: Horror's Summit**

Knuckles woke up, staring up at the surprisingly clear sky and then wondered what he was doing on the ground. Then it suddenly hit him: the words and sounds, the feelings and emotions... He wanted to see Rouge again, he needed to talk to her... Sighing, he got up and was surprised when he saw the snow piled up around him, leaving him in a little hollow. The shield became more visible and it shined in the light, making his body shimmer. He stared in wonder at the colour, non-existent but at the same time everything, oozing like oil on top of water.

Looking around, Knuckles saw an ocean far away, twinkling and calm while the mountains he was standing on led downwards to a cliff and something else. It was a building, tall and black and for some strange reason it was the only thing he could clearly see, even the mountains seemed blurry compared to it. It was obviously very important, it was the only structure here and he could sense something else from it too...

He took out the Master Emerald and looked at it, noticing the gap in it and at the same time, that slight itching feeling came back to him. He remembered who had it and suddenly he could see Rouge, standing on the edge of a cliff, staring out across the ocean although he couldn't see what she was looking at. She had the missing piece of the Emerald in her hand and she glanced down at it before the image suddenly disappeared. Knuckles shook his head, not sure what had just happened or what had caused it. At any rate, he didn't have time to think about Rouge, he had to try and get to that building, to find out its importance...

Seeing a line going downwards that had less snow than the rest of the mountains, Knuckles set off along it, careful not to slip. He didn't need to be injured when he found the others and maybe Sonic and Shadow again.

I wonder how everyone is, are they all still here? Where am I anyway? I don't recognise anything like this at all, when I saw Sonic and Shadow there was no vision of this place... Knuckles thought until he was interrupted by the sun appearing from behind a cloud, the light reflected on the snow, causing him to hiss and cover his eyes. He quickly put his sunglasses on, sighing in relief when he could see normally as he continued on his way down.

Knuckles could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rising as he got the sensation of being watched. When he turned around though he couldn't see anything though so he continued on. Every so often he saw something out of the corner of his eye, a brief glimpse of a shadow following him and it made him nervous, what if it was one of those strange creatures he had seen carved into the arch? That was the other odd thing about this place: there was no living organisms in this place apart from him and maybe the others, if they were nearby.

"They are, do not worry." So there /was/ something following him, and it could talk too. He needed to see them, to be reassured that it wasn't someone who wanted to cause him harm. "I'm sorry, but unless you take off your sunglasses, you cannot turn around. I can't risk you seeing me, not until the right time anyway." He had forgotten that the glasses could show invisible things and obviously the person was afraid of being seen in case they were discovered. He risked taking the sunglasses off and was glad that he could see without having to face the glare of the snow.

"Is that better?" He asked and he felt something beside him, soft like feathers and he shivered slightly at the sensation. "Where are you anyway? Are you beside me?"

"I am beside you, yes. I have come to make sure you are ok for you are now nearing the end of your journey and you will have perils to face before you get there." They explained. Knuckles could see a faint outline of a person and was somehow reminded of the figure from before.

"Are you the same person who helped me out of the volcano?"

"No, although I do know who you are talking about. You may see them soon if you make it through." They sounded serious, was his life in danger again?

"What's going to happen? What perils are there?" For a moment there was no response and he turned to look at the person, although he couldn't see them.

"Look behind you..."

Knuckles did so and gasped when he saw the snow flowing down the mountain, feeling the rumbling sensation at the same time. He looked back at the person and now they were more visible as some of the snow started to reach them. He started running as fast as he could, although the thought occurred to him in the back of his mind that the avalanche would eventually catch up. But for the moment, he couldn't feel the snow and was thankful for that. But then he was swept up in it, feeling himself being dragged down by the sheer weight of the snow. It was going everywhere, in his ears and mouth, causing him to choke and he closed his eyes, now only feeling the bumps as his body was knocked from side to side.

"Hold onto me Knuckles..." He heard a soft voice saying as he was pulled through the snow and into the sky. He couldn't open his eyes and merely grabbed blindly for something to hold onto. He found something, not noticing the hiss of pain from the person at the tightness of his grip. They flew higher into the air until they were clear of the snow slide before brushing the snow out of Knuckles' eyes. "Are you ok?"

Knuckles opened his eyes hesitantly and found himself staring into a wispy white face, features indistinguishable although they were there. It was then he noticed the fact he was high up in the air with no obvious means of support.

"Argh, what am I doing up here?" He yelled, causing the figure to tisk and sigh.

"Don't shout please, that was right in my ear." They turned to the side and shook their head. "You are up here because I didn't think you wanted to be down there. However, if you really want to-"

"No, that's quite all right! It's just because I couldn't see you very well. You scared me a bit..." Knuckles said, almost ashamed to admit that he, the guardian of the Master Emerald had been frightened by a shadowy figure. He quickly forgot about this though when the person laughed.

"I can understand why but you have to realise I can't tell you who I am in case someone gets you and you accidentally tell them about me." Knuckles looked down and saw that they were flying over water, the occasional dolphin jumping out and he smiled, feeling happy at their carefree attitude. He wished he could be down there with everyone else, enjoying himself instead of being alone in a place he didn't understand with an unknown person.

"Will you tell me who you are one day?" He asked quietly, feeling his eyes shut. He was so tired...

"Maybe but you can't go to sleep yet Knuckles or you'll get ill. Anyway, you'll be with your friends soon and then some of your questions will be answered." He forced his eyes open again when he heard their words and thought about his friends.

"Will they all be there?" He wanted to see Rouge more than ever now, his words had been so rash and he regretted them now...

"Yes, Rouge will be there and then you two can talk about what has happened. But until then you have one more thing to do before you can see her." Knuckles could see that the sea was getting closer to them and up ahead was some cliffs that looked just like the ones Rouge had been standing on in the vision he had had.

"Has she been here?"

"Yes, not too long ago. Others have passed through here too, people you know..." Knuckles suddenly remembered them: Tails, Marie and Eggman and how he had never said good-bye to them before he left. He had been such an idiot... "Everyone is fine, they are waiting for you and then the last part of your journey will take place."

"Then what do I have to do?" Knuckles said as he was set down on the ground, giving himself a few seconds to stand up properly.

"Get through the door of the building..." They said, turning and pointing to the black temple standing nearby.

Knuckles stared at the black marble construction, gleaming so much it looked new, no chips or knocks at all. There were no curves at all, even the columns were square. Knuckles took a few paces forward and waited for the person to follow and they did so, although they were extremely hesitant. There was no noise and all he could hear was his shoes on the steps and the running of wind over the stone. He got to the top and saw words glowing on the door although he was too far away to read them.

"Is it safe?" He said aloud, more for reassurance than anything else.

"Yes, you will not be harmed by reading them." Was all the figure replied so he stepped forward to read them.

From the beginning of eternity

To the end of time and space

To the beginning of every end

And the end of the place

What am I?

"Are you allowed to help me?" Knuckles inquired, turning back to the figure and they shook their head.

"No but I will say one thing. Look at the words, don't worry about what they're trying to say." And with that they disappeared, leaving Knuckles alone to work out the answer this seemingly impossible riddle. But it couldn't be impossible or they wouldn't have asked him to solve it.

So I just have to look at the words and it will make sense... He read over them again and tried to think about what they were saying. Well eternity has been forever so there couldn't have been a beginning. Maybe that's what the person meant by trying not to think about what they mean.

Knuckles sat down in front of the words and reread the first line. The word eternity began with the letter 'e' and end also began with the letter 'e'...

That's it! /E/ternity, tim/e/, spac/e/, /e/nd, plac/e/. They all have the letter 'e' in them! He stood up and read them once more just to make sure before backing away slightly. "It's the letter 'e'!"

He watched in wonder as the words fell apart forming a pile of sand at his feet and allowing him to see the door. More smooth black marble was briefly seen before it opened, the sand rising into the air and floating away on the wind. By now the door was fully opened and he was finally allowed inside the building. He felt pleased that he had managed to solve the riddle on his own and stood in the doorway for a moment, looking inside. He shivered slightly, suddenly feeling cold again after the adrenalin of winning had disappeared and his head felt all stuffy. He walked towards the ball of light, disappointed when no heat came out of it and merely hoped he would be somewhere warm soon.

S. Chensu: Well that went ok. Anyway, I've just remembered something that I was supposed to ask everyone. I want to go to university next year and am currently filling in my UCAS form, which gets sent to six universities and they look at it. One part is a personal statement and on it I have mentioned the fact that I do writing.

Luff: You all right so far? I'm confused all ready.

S. Chensu: Haha. But the problem is that universities like to see evidence so if I get an interview, they may want to see evidence of my writing. Including reviews. So they can get an idea of what the story is like and what people think of it. So I'm asking if it's ok for me to use some, not everyone's, reviews. I won't use names or e-mail addresses, just the comments. It may seem silly to ask but I thought I had better, just in case. Also, if you'd like to write us a big detailed review at the end of the story, that would be appreciated too. Mention the bad points of the story too, we don't mind. As long as it's balanced.

Luff: So basically she wants to use your reviews and you can write some especially for her.

S. Chensu: Many thankies and we'll see you next Saturday or Sunday for the next chapter.


	30. The Book of Knowledge

S. Chensu: Hello people!

Luff: We're back from our holiday and finally ready to finish this tale off!

S. Chensu: It's been a long and hard slog, not just for us but for you too, what with you having to wait for our unreliable updates that are always a day late!

Luff: We're near the end now, only another six episodes or so.

S. Chensu: Ok, we're not /that/ near to the end but it feels like it. Especially as we've got the next episode written up at the point of posting this up as well. Which is late as usual.

Luff: So only another 7 left to write!

S. Chensu: Let's get onto reviewer replies.

Celestial the Hedgrid- Thanks for letting Chen use your reviews and thank you for the compliments! Yeah, Chen saw the last one on a job finding event thing at her school. They were talking about the sorts of things they could ask you in interviews.

Yugi and Mai- How can you review without reading the chapter?! You silly people! And anyway, it's /S. Chensu and Luff/, not the other way round! Oldest one first! Send us an email when you get it and tell your dad that the Inet's safe, there are loads of providers that give you the option of only being allowed to receive emails from people you authorise. So just your friends! And yes Yugi is /very/ short… Luff's currently on Pokemon Coliseum, leaving me to write the author's note! But I got Devil May Cry 2 so I'm happy! We've only just got your last review, thank you for making it nice and detailed. Ah, sunburn, that most favoured thing in Britain… And they'll be back together soon, stop moaning! And all will be revealed! Who does Mai fancy? There aren't many guys left…is it Pegasus? Or maybe Arkana? Or is it Odion? Hmm, we will work it out… And Chen also wonders why she likes the picture of Bakura wearing very little. Did you try that /Yami/? Kury didn't know you think about him that often… And Cosy Heart Penguin is Chen's favourite! And she knows you really love that thing with chocolate…

the funk master- See, Chen thought that was the hardest riddle because she tries to make everything too complicated! I don't know if there is a riddle for the letter Q but it would be cool if there were one…

Dragon Master Naya- Well, the "E riddle" came from RichaCo and the other two are from a nursery rhyme website Chen went on recently. She had to find loads of them for an activity at Guide camp coz she was helping the leaders out so she's got a lot. We'll send them to you if you want.

Luff: We can't be bothered to do a disclaimer but it doesn't matter, seeing as you all know the drill by now.

S. Chensu: However, we would like to point out that this episode contains some stuff that may be seen as 'gay' but it's to explain what happens at the end. As we've said before several times, this is NOT a Shonen-ai story, this is merely to explain something.

Luff: Right, she's just said the same twice so no complaints ok? We'll make it mild, just hugging or something like that.

S. Chensu: Well, now that that problem is dealt with, we can get on with the episode.

Luff: Wahoo!

**Episode thirty: The Book of Knowledge**

"Shadow, this may sound weird but…I'm scared." Sonic said as they lay in the cage, staring at the formations of the ceiling, bored once more. No one had come to visit them, maybe so little time had passed that they hadn't had a chance to wake up yet.

"Sonic, don't make me laugh. I don't believe you're scared of anything." Shadow replied, blushing slightly when we realised what he had said.

"Thank you for saying that but I'm only human." Sonic said, also blushing.

"Sonic?" Shadow looked at him strangely, had he even realised what he had just said?

"Hmm?"

"You're not human." Sonic glanced over at him and grinned sheepishly, quickly looking away again.

"Well, you know what I mean. I can have faults too you know, just like you." Shadow seemed thoughtful at this comment and turned so he was lying on his side.

"Not that I'm supposed to. I was the 'perfect' being, able to do anything straight away, not constrained by a lack of knowledge like others were. Even better than my creator…" He frowned at his words, surprised at how bitter he was. "What a mistake that was…" He added quietly, sighing at memories of the past.

"I'm sorry…" Sonic murmured, also turning on his side.

"What for?"

"For bringing this up. I know it hurts you." Sonic was still speaking quietly and for some reason this made Shadow slightly edgy.

"Don't worry about it, it's all in the past now." He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't remember a lot of it anyway."

"Doesn't that…bother you? That a lot of your life is just blank spaces?" Sonic looked at Shadow wide eyed, wondering how he could be so relaxed about it.

"Well it does when you put it like that…"

"Oh…sorry, I'm not being much help am I?"

"You're keeping me sane if that helps." Shadow blushed again, not sure why he was being so open and what it could possibly mean.

"Really? I thought I'd be driving you crazy." Sonic said sincerely, laughing sheepishly at his words.

"Why do you think that?" Shadow edged closer, interested in Sonic's words while he looked down, unable to meet his eye.

"Because I don't think you like me very much." Shadow raised an eyebrow at this, where did he get that idea from?

"But…"

"You said a lot of things when we had that fight. You don't think much of me…" Shadow frowned at the look of hurt on Sonic's face, usually he never let things like this bother him. He thought that Sonic would have realised that he was feeling stressed too.

"I don't know why I said that stuff, I just felt annoyed and I…snapped I suppose. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you." He waited for Sonic's reaction but he didn't say anything. Why am I talking like this? What's happening, why do I suddenly feel the need to make sure he's ok? He's always been fine before, he doesn't care about what I say…

"I'm sorry too…" Suddenly Sonic leant forward and pulled Shadow into a tight hug, leaning his head on his shoulder.

"Sonic…?" Shadow was worried, not because of the closeness of them but because he found great comfort being in Sonic's arms. Something which he was sure wasn't normal.

"I just wanted…I don't know. I've got this feeling and somehow this is making it better…" Sonic whispered, hearing Shadow's breathing quicken slightly, as though he was unsure of what was happening.

"I know, I feel it too." Shadow twisted his head slightly so he was looking at Sonic and was surprised to see his face so close but even more so when he was able to make out individual hairs. Shadow recoiled from him and Sonic pulled back, a slightly panicked look on his face. Sonic turned away, now burning a colour more normally found on Knuckles and moved to the other side of the cage, leaning against the bars.

"Shadow I-"

"Sonic, I just don't think it's a good idea. I don't feel that way about you." He didn't reply and Shadow moved towards him, to see if he was ok. His eyes were firmly shut and he flinched when Shadow placed his hand on his shoulder.

"I don't understand…" Sonic mumbled, shivering as he felt himself go cold. What had made him try to kiss Shadow? Why did he want to hug him so much? Was it for reassurance?

"Sonic, you're just tired and confused. Try and get some sleep…" Shadow suggested, draping a blanket over him at the same time. Sonic gripped the blanket tightly, pulling it closer to himself, his eyes still shut. Shadow sighed softly before backing away, knowing that Sonic needed some space for a while…

Shaylea frowned when she came back into the room, although it was more because she could feel the weight of what was happening taking its toll on her than because of the silence in the room. Kensa had gone out again and Shaylea knew it was only a matter of a couple of days before everything suddenly sped up and went into overdrive. She stood in front of Sonic and Shadow, surprised to find Sonic squished up against the bars while Shadow sat calmly beside him, legs crossed, staring out into the room. He smiled when he saw her, noticing the large object in her hands.

"Is that…?" He whispered, moving forward in the cage.

"Yes, this is the Book of Knowledge. I thought you might like to have a look at it, I know we didn't really explain much at the beginning and we haven't had time to tell you about it since. So here it is." She placed the rather large book in front of her, allowing Shadow to see the front cover, not that there was much on it, merely a few indecipherable markings and a picture of a golden dragon.

"How did you get it without being caught? What about Gregg and Kensa?" Shadow asked suddenly.

"I got it by being good at being able to hide myself and neither Gregg or Kensa know I've got it and hopefully they won't either. It's very risky, if they knew they'd go ballistic." Shaylea looked at Shadow shyly, a small smile on her face. "So try not to tell them…"

"Of course not. Can I look at it?"

"I was hoping Sonic would be awake too, that way you could look at it together and I wouldn't have to bring it back again. What happened anyway?" Shaylea's gaze narrowed slightly. "Why is he all hunched up like that?"

"Erm…it's a bit difficult to explain but we didn't have a fight. Things have been a bit confusing recently, that's all. Shall I wake him up?" Shadow said evasively, not sure she would understand.

"No, don't worry about it. Just take a look at it; it says some stuff about you in here."

Shadow took the book held out to him and laying it in front of him, started to flick through it. He scanned over the curly writing traced over the thin pages, so fragile that they seemed to be barely together. Occasionally there would be pictures but they were all slightly fuzzy, as though they were drawn from a fading memory. Some of them had been scrubbed out hurriedly, as though the person feared for his safety if they were found. He stopped when he came onto a page titled 'The Last Chapter', where two figures, one blue and one black, stood in front a mass of material.

"Are they meant to be me and Sonic? And is that the thing we have to face?" He said, pointing to the various figures. Shaylea leaned towards the picture and nodded her head.

"According to the text, yes."

Shadow turned the page and started to read it, knowing that this was the key to what was going on.

In the greatest battle of the history of life, the evil will be overthrown and peace will once more be spread around the world. One day two will be captured, hedgehogs and brothers, not only by blood but by heart and soul too. Together with the ones of many names and those from the past and future, they will overcome great difficulties in order to secure protection for those who cannot protect themselves. However, they must face trials themselves before they can face the final test, ripped apart and then left alone to face their fears, worse than what they have had to conquer in the past. They will discover more about themselves on this journey than they could in their whole lives. But success will bring fortune, which will smile upon them…

Shadow felt the words resonating around his head and somehow recognised them from somewhere, someone who had said them before. But from where he couldn't tell. He looked at it again, pausing when he saw the words.

"Brothers, not only by blood…" He stared at Shaylea, unsure what it was trying to say. "Is that saying that…?"

"What? It's saying that you and Sonic are brothers but…didn't you know that?" Shaylea looked concerned at the lack of knowledge Shadow appeared to have.

"No, I didn't know that we were related at all…" Shadow looked around at Sonic, wondering if this explained what had happened earlier. Do I suddenly feel close to him because we're brothers? But how could that work? We're decades apart, how is it possible? But it makes sense, we're very similar, both in power and physical appearance… He turned back to Shaylea. "To be honest, the thought never crossed my mind before. I mean, we were both born so far apart and there never really seemed to be any connection."

"Despite the fact you both are very similar…" Shaylea said ironically. "I'm afraid I cannot explain it, for I do not know the answer but it doesn't really matter. Just remember that you're together for a reason and that you are the chosen ones." She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry if it seems we're putting a lot of pressure on you but you'll have help."

"You mean the 'ones with many names'? Who are they? Obviously the people from the past is our friends but…" He paused. "Are they you?"

"I cannot say. But you'll meet them soon…"

Shaylea suddenly looked down at the ground and her eyes widened slightly as she quickly took the book from Shadow. He soon realised it was Kensa and she floated to them. He looked back at the book but it was now gone. Shaylea winked at him and he smiled before turning back to Kensa who had finally reached them.

"They have reached the end; they'll be back together in a matter of minutes. That means it won't be long until you get taken away so you should make sure you're fully ready." She said business like, not seeming to realise something was up between them. "Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?"

"Yes please but what about you? Have you just come back from them? Aren't you tired?" Shadow asked and she huffed, crossing her arms.

"It doesn't matter what's going on with me, you two are the most important thing now. Wake Sonic up and ask him if he wants something to eat too." Shadow nodded his head and did so, giving Sonic a look that said 'We'll talk later' before relaying the words that Kensa had said to him.

"It's already time? Then yes, I would like something please." Kensa nodded her head and went to find something, allowing Shaylea to leave to hide the book until she could replace it later.

"Did you want to say something Shadow?" Sonic asked nervously, afraid of what it was.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad but I'll tell you once they have gone ok?" Sonic nodded his head in agreement and they fell into silence, waiting for them to come back.

S. Chensu: Another episode complete!

Luff: And the Shonen-ai stuff wasn't too bad either. And at least now you know what Shaylea was getting now. I know you wanted a monkey but it just wasn't possible.

S. Chensu: Nevermind. So until next time (either Sat or Sun), remember to review if you have a moment and help us to get nearer to the end!


	31. Dragon Hall

S. Chensu: Nice and quick update because it's already been written. I'm pushing Luff to get her bits finished so I can get this done and put up my Yu-Gi-Oh! story instead. 

Luff: What do you mean by that? It's you who takes ages!

S. Chensu: Cough Err…reviewer replies anyone?

Yugi and Mai- Ooh, get you! "My team's all at level 100!" Chen doesn't care much about that and Luff still hasn't read the reviews because she's lazy! Chen thinks that Yami's being very rude too, considering the fact /he/ told Bakura that he was the most important last night! And he knows that the pharaoh actually loves him the best! We told you several times this is not going to be a yaoi story, we know you want it to be but there are lots of people who don't want a story about two hedgehogs having sex with each other. Chen came up with the brother idea a long time ago and sort of forgot how it was supposed to work and that was the best explanation she could come up with. Your questions will be answered in good time… No, you cannot have the Book of Knowledge because it's needed for the shush second series. And Cosy Heart /is/ the best! And we're not surprised that Yami's favourite is Grumpy Bear, Bakura knows all about him being grumpy in the morning if he doesn't get anything the night before.

the funk master- If you read the author's note you'll know that they're not gay! None of them! And there won't be a monkey but you could always imagine the enchanted paper-thin book sized one. Actually, because we're the authoresses, we can do whatever we want! Gives the funk master an enchanted paper-thin book size monkey. That good enough for you?

Celestial the Hedgird- We're really trying hard to get this finished so it /will/ all be up before the end of August! Hopefully it will get even better!

Luff: Yeah, we don't like own this or anything; you know the bits we do though.

S. Chensu: So as usual, on with the show!

Episode thirty-one: Dragon Hall 

As Rouge walked through a darkened corridor, she began to wonder what kind of obstacle she would face next. She had already been barraged by seagulls, what could be worse? But that picture of the dragon that had been engraved into the door floated back into her mind. What could that mean? Did she have to fight one?

Rouge slowed down her pace as she saw a light shining up ahead. It had an orangey glow to it, and made it look as though the walls themselves were flickering. Is that fire…? She thought to herself as she drew ever nearer, her heart beating faster from anticipation. She rounded a corner in the corridor gasped as the room at the end of it met her eyes.

"Wha…? This place is huge!" She gasped as she stared into the huge hall. There were tall pillars as far as she could see reaching up to a ceiling some twenty metres above her, and large torches flickering in their brackets on the sides of the pillars. This only caught her momentarily though as she soon saw the rather /large/ problem lying right in her path in the middle of the hall. "Is that…what I think it is?" Rouge felt her breath catch somewhere in the depths of her chest as she stared at the creature in fear. It's large, purple scales and powerful sharp claws made her wince in fear, as she backed slowly up against the wall. She saw a deep red eye peering at her through the dim light of the room, half closed as though it was asleep. "It is…it's a dragon…" Despite the fact that it was staring at Rouge, it didn't appear to take any notice of her. "Is it…asleep?" She took a step closer, hesitated, before carrying on towards it.

"It is asleep, but it won't be for long…" Rouge jumped a little as she spun around to find out where the voice was coming from. She saw a small ball of light bobbing up and down behind her, and frowned.

"What…do you mean?" She said slowly, not sure of whether she should be talking to a ball of light. Then again, since she had got there she had come to accept the weird as being perfectly normal.

"I put a spell on it…it's asleep now, but it won't last for long. You have to hurry if you want to make it out of here without getting hurt." Rouge nodded and turned, a little more fear creeping back into her heart. She took a deep breath, before jumping up into the air and flying quietly towards the slumbering dragon. He stomach plummeted when she saw the coils of the creatures tail wound around various pillars, as if to protect them from intruders. It was as if the very air itself was the dragon's treasure…

Rouge craftily guided herself around the columns, being careful not to fly too low down towards the dragon, but not so high that she couldn't see where she was going from the lack of light. It didn't take her very long before she could see the other side of the hall, so she started to make directly for the door.

"Rouge, quickly!" She heard the ball of light call out behind her. "It's waking up!" Rouge turned to look down at the ground, but before she could see what was happening she crashed painfully into a pillar. She cried out as she scrambled to keep a grasp on the column, but immediately regretted making any noise at all as she heard a huge roar behind her.

"St!" Rouge swore as she saw the huge dragon rise up behind her, uncoiling its long tail and whipping it down next to her so she could feel the air rushing past her skin. Its eyes had now turned a blood red colour, as if from anger, and fire was spilling from its mouth like a fountain of water. She could see it glittering in the dull light, chest flashing with jewels encrusted into its surface.

"Rouge, hurry! It's about to attack!" But it was too late as the dragon had already directed a huge flamethrower towards her, which she only just managed to avoid. It roared with anger as it saw her escape, before shooting several large fireballs towards her.

"ARGH!" She screamed as one of them hit her wing, causing her to fall with a thud to the ground. "Help!" She cowered as she saw it towering above her, sharp claws flexing as it drew steadily closer. Its teeth were now visible too, glistening with drool in the torch light. It moved its tail so that it was curled around her, leaving her with no escape route. How am I going to get out of this? She looked up and saw the strange ball of light floating above her.

"Go up!" It said, bobbing furiously around her head.

"Huh?" She thought for a moment, before an idea came to her head.

"Come on, jump! I'll help you!" Rouge nodded. She stood up, and prepared herself for what she was going to do. "I hope this works…" And with that she jumped, going up further with the help of the ball of light. She brought her right leg back, pumping herself with as much energy as possible before swinging it forward and smashing it into the dragon's jaw. It reeled, clutching its face in its clawed hands, before emitting a deafening roar and chasing quickly after her.

"Quickly, through here!" Rouge followed the light as it lead her through a small door, flying quickly to avoid the fire that was being shot at her by the still angry dragon. She could feel the heat of it at her feet, and even though the dragon had been left behind, it was still breathing out fire into the small corridor they were in.

"It's no good! It's still attacking me!"

"Just keep going! You're nearly there!" Rouge could just about see another door ahead, so she quickly made for it while still avoiding the fire that was rapidly catching up with her. She landed on the ground before running to the door and slamming it behind her, immediately blocking out the heat and fire.

"God…that was close…" She looked around herself for the ball of light, but found that it had disappeared. That's strange…I could have sworn it was in front of me… She furrowed her brow in thought. Who was that, anyway? They seemed so…familiar. But I have no idea where I could know them from. Hmm, maybe it's just me being weird…boy, this is creeping me out…

So, without a further thought of the dragon, she set of down the corridor, wondering what she would have to face next…

S. Chensu: Yeah, it's short but you have to expect it, it was written by Luff.

Luff: Only because you couldn't do it!

S. Chensu: Oh yeah, many thankies Luff! Now we'll get on with the next two episodes, the next one being up on Thursday…maybe.


	32. Trouble's Finite

S. Chensu: Yep, this is a week late, we know it. But Luff wrote it… 

Luff: What are you trying to say? I did write it quickly, just not when I was supposed to…

S. Chensu: Nothing, just pointing the fact out. Anyway, reviewer (the few that we got) replies.

the funk master- Did you ever find the monkey? Don't kill it please, they're very rare!

Snow-the-hedgehog- We think you're a new reviewer so welcome! And we haven't had many people who /love/ the story but it's very cool! And here is the new chapter…at last.

Yugi and Mai- Will you please stop reviewing chapters more than once? You're making it look like we've got more reviews than we actually have so your comments are very welcome but could you keep them to one and review together please? Thank you. And no Yugi, you cannot have the dragon or the Book of Knowledge. And Chen would like to solve Yami's grumpiness. And Mai, we already knew you fancied him! And we think Marik sounded like an alien, like Mr Burns in the Simpson's episode when they thought he was an alien. For yoooooouu…

Luff: It's the last 'level' episode and as usual, it belongs to Eggman.

S. Chensu: So without further ado, here we go!

Episode thirty-two: Trouble's finite 

Eggman felt relieved as he left the strange room behind him, feeling puzzled by what he had been told not moments before. He tried to look around again for the person he had seen, but it was to no avail. Instead, he turned his attention to the area that was now surrounding him.

The first thing he noticed was that everything appeared to be made out of crystal, which was shining clearly in the darkness of the night. He walked up to one of the buildings, a house, and touched it with his hand. Sure enough, his gloved hand slid easily over its glittering surface, thereby confirming his suspicions. But it wasn't just a small area of land; it was a whole town, and gave the impression that he was in some sort of fairytale world that had been doomed by a curse.

"What happened here?" He asked himself as he continued along the crystalline road, having to go slowly so that his heavy machine didn't slip. He carried on with this slow trot for some time, not really making any progress as the town seemed to last for ever. "Surely there must be something here that's more of a threat than some crystal…?"

As if to answer his question, a loud cracking sound reverberated behind him. He jumped, before swivelling around in his seat to try and find the source of the noise. At first, he couldn't really see anything that could be conceived as threatening, but he kept his eyes peeled as he moved slowly on. There was a faint glow coming from each lamppost, as if they sought to light his way; either that, or it was for a different reason…

"What the…?" Eggman froze as he saw – at least he /thought/ he saw - something dark rise up in front of him. There it hovered in mid-air, taking on no particular form; it just hung, as if suspended by invisible strings. Eggman thought his mind might be playing tricks on him, so he switched on the lamp that was placed at the head of his machine, and almost immediately regretted it afterwards. "ARGH!" He yelled as the shadow thing made a horrible screeching noise that sounded like someone was scraping their nails down a blackboard, before suddenly swarming forwards and engulfing his body in the cursed mist. "Help!"

Eggman yelled again as a blinding flash of light pierced the impenetrable dark, causing the black mist to flee into the shadows. He blinked and looked to where the light had come from, but he saw nothing. He didn't have much time to think though, because he heard yet another cracking noise from behind him.

"Ohh…" It was now that he realised that the lampposts were not as friendly as he first thought. There were about a dozen of them, all in a circle facing him. He watched as they hopped towards him, now appearing to be a lot more menacing than the first impression gave.

We fall right in and suffer the sins

Try to pull things round when the air starts to thin

We nurse regrets, restricted in our own belief

A new disease

"Right, you lampposts want a piece of me? Well then get a load of this!" Eggman charged up the laser canon on the Hornet before loosing off the most powerful laser it could muster, carefully aiming it at each post so as not to misfire at anything else by accident. He watched with familiar pleasure as the lampposts dissolved into nothingness, remembering when this kind of thing was commonplace in his everyday life. Well, maybe not attacking /lampposts/, but it was close enough. "That's better…" But to his dismay, Eggman saw that that was absolutely nothing compared to what was waiting behind them…

We shake new hands, the victims of fate

We tread new ground misfortune conveys

You tear yourself apart

Wishing to be born again

A different man

"Oh no! I can't do this, there's too many!" Eggman struggled to keep up with the pace of the enemies, only just managing to strike them as they reached within a metre of his machine. He had been hit several times too, and he had a bleeding gash on his arm. The shadows had decided to rejoin the fray too, blocking his sight so he couldn't see where he was shooting. "Out-of-my-/way/!" He yelled as another black cloud swarmed around his head. _I don't know…if I can do this…_

Comfort in sound

It's all around

Ease back the strain

Come heal your pain

Comfort in sound

It's all around you now

Comfort in sound

"This is it… I'm done for…" Eggman despaired, as there seemed to be no way of escaping, the lampposts and shadows pressing in all around him. "Who would have thought it? The great Eggman defeated by a couple of lampposts…"

Despite his obvious defeat, Eggman continued in vain to blast away all the lampposts and shadows, not ready to give up quite yet. There must be an end to them, surely? But the more Eggman overcame them, the more he began to realise that this would never end. After all, this world seemed to be able to summon the impossible into being /quite/ possible. Eggman's thoughts flashed back momentarily to the person who had led him through the previous 'area'.

#It is lucky that I was here to help you, do you know what you would have had to deal with if you were alone?# Eggman remembered all too clearly what they had said before.

"Now I realise…yes… I wish that person was here now…"

We suffer love together as one

An empty heart with nowhere to turn

We find ourselves looking back another way

A brand new day

Just as soon as he had said that, another blinding flash of light penetrated the imposing darkness, wiping out everything in sight. Once it had dimmed down, Eggman once again tried to find out who it was who had destroyed the enemies; and this time he was successful. A pearly-white figure stood in front of him, glowing as if they were made of light themselves. But, it was not the same person that he had seen before. Despite this, Eggman was nevertheless exceedingly grateful that he still had his life, and, fortunately, even now had all the bits of his body attached to the right places.

"Thank you…whoever you are…" The figure hastily waved away his thanks, before beckoning him to fellow them.

"This way…it will not be long before they come back again. Hurry!" Eggman did as he was told, pushing his machine to its limits to keep up with the speedy spirit.

Soon the creaking and groaning of the lampposts was out of earshot, and the only thing that Eggman could here was the wind rushing past his ears and his own beating heart. His eyes never left the racing spirit, for fear of losing sight of them, even though there were many things that passed by him that tempted him to look away; but the thought of more attacking lampposts and shadows was enough to put him off doing it.

"Stop!" Eggman screeched to a halt and nearly crashed as the spirit came to a large door, waiting impatiently for Eggman to gather himself and his machine up from the pile on the ground that they had managed to make. "Hurry up." Said the spirit with clear annoyance in their voice as Eggman dusted himself off, moving the machine to stand next to them.

Comfort in sound

It's all around

Ease back the strain

Come heal your pain

Comfort in sound

It's all around you now – yeah

"Now you will have to face your test." At Eggman's nonplussed expression, they rolled their eyes and pointed their finger wearily at the door. "There. Read that." Eggman leaned forward and peered closely at the huge double doors. They were clearly ancient, carved out of some heavily stone material the likes of which he had never seen before; it was covered with scars that looked like they had been made by some ancient and mythical beast, and huge chunks had fallen out of it to leave what once must have been beautiful doors to look decayed and…well, decayed.

Written on the door was a riddle in large old-style writing, which, compared to the rest of door, looked relatively new and showed up clearly in the darkness of the night. It read:

Pronounced as one letter,

And written with three,

Two letters there are,

And two only in me.

I'm double, I'm single,

I'm black, blue, and grey,

I'm read from both ends,

And the same either way.

What am I?

Eggman stared at it, dumbfounded. "Err…"

"If you want to save your friends, you have to solve the riddle…" Eggman scratched his head. "And as one of the most intelligent people in the world, as you claim to be, this should be a breeze for you… But don't delude yourself. Think about your answer before you say it, because you only get one chance."

"Oh, this is just perfect… Um, okay, let's see…" Eggman read the first sentence again. " 'Pronounced as one letter'…well that doesn't rule out anything… 'And written with three'… Um…well, let's start with vowels… 'A'… nope, not spelt with three letters. 'E'… err…" Eggman furrowed his brow as he thought. "What is it? Not 'E'…"

"Read the rest through first…"

"Maybe…maybe it's 'See'… But, that's not 'blue, black and grey'… Or 'Sea'… No, that's spelt with three different letters… But that can be blue…and grey…not sure about black though." Eggman sighed; his head was beginning to hurt. "Oh, bother…"

Solution gone, emotions ablaze

A life so strong just faded away

You find yourself searching for a quick release

A new belief

"Wait! I think I know what it is!" Eggman thought for a moment, before saying triumphantly, "it's 'Eye'! Look… 'Pronounced as one letter…' it's pronounced like 'I'… 'And written with three…yes…two letters there are…' there's 'E' and 'Y' yes, yes, it all works."

"Are you sure that's your final answer?"

"Yes! I can't see how it can be anything else…" And with his final words, the great doors began to rumble before swinging inwards to reveal a large, darkened room. Eggman stepped in cautiously, casting his gaze around the dank walls with torches in brackets. Not really seeing anything, he went in further, before coming to an abrupt stop in front of a ball of light.

"What…is that?" He turned around to question the spirit, but they were nowhere to be seen. He frowned, before shrugging and turning back to the light. "Well…I suppose I should touch it then…" He reached a hand forward, hesitated, and touched the light. In an instant he vanished into thin air.

Comfort in sound

It's all around

Ease back the strain

Come heal your pain

Comfort in sound

It's all around you now

Comfort in sound 

Luff: Wow…let's do that again!

S. Chensu: NO! Not again! Oh yeah, we forgot to say we don't own anything and the song is called 'Comfort in Sound' by Feeder, one of my faves!

Luff: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWN. You quite finished yet? Anyways, please read and review, and hopefully we will see you all next time!

S. Chensu: On Tuesday. Roughly…


	33. Metal vs the Genuine Thing

S. Chensu: For once, an episode that's up on time!

Luff: Yeah, it's a miracle…

S. Chensu: And only five more left to go! So let's get on with it and do replies!

Yami and Mai- Royal subjects? How rude! Anyway, it's good to care for your mobile, especially if they have a vibration option… And 50? Only in his wildest dreams! Doesn't he like the extra two zeros at the end of the number signifying his age/5000/. And /ratty boy/ can get it up by Tuesday, look! Chen loves the riddle, it's so cool! We've just been watching your tape of YGO episodes and we're freaked out by mind controlled Joey and Marik. Well Chen didn't quote it, Luff did. It was her episode after all. She probably did though; she can't do anything of her own that's original! And we got a review about Yami being grumpy and asking if Bakura could solve it. By the way, he says he'd love to. And you and Yugi having fun? With the vibrating mobile just out of interest?

the funk master- You still haven't found it? I'm surprised the predators don't want to eat it actually but if /they/ can't find it…

Dragon Master Naya- It's Eggman's theme song! We forgot to mention they all have theme songs for this story and everyone's done theirs now apart from Sonic. But his will be the next episode. It's another one of Chen's personal favourites…

Snow-the-hedgehog- Thankies for another review and yes, the lampposts were a bit of light humour. And you're in luck because the update is today!

S. Chensu: We don't own any of this stuff as usual, apart from what you know about.

Luff: Today the group finally get back together which means…

S. Chensu: The crisis between Knuckles and Rouge is finally solved!

Luff: Wahoo!

Episode thirty-three: Metal vs. the Genuine Thing 

Rouge was surprised, she truly was. In front of her was a room that was big but seemed cosy at the same time, maybe due to the fire burning brightly in the corner, blankets surrounding it. She wrapped one around herself and then started to walk around the room, thinking about what could happen now.

I hope the others come here soon, for some strange reason I know they're close and it would be nice to know they're all ok. Especially Knuckles… The memory of the fight they had had flashed through her mind and she cringed as she remembered how she hadn't understood that Knuckles needed her with him. No, instead she had totally ignored what they had gone through together, only thinking about how she felt.

Rouge sat down in front of the fire, lulled by its warmth, the thought suddenly occurring to her that she hadn't had anything to eat or drink recently. She felt weak and sleepy; especially after all of the running she had had to do. She stared at the flames, feeling them envelop her like a pair of arms and wishing, in her heart that Knuckles was here so that she could tell him that…

"ST!" Rouge jumped up at the yell and spun around, afraid of what she would see. What she didn't expect was to see Tails lying on the floor, twitching in pain every couple of seconds.

"Tails, language!" He twisted to stare at her in amazement and she laughed nervously, not thinking he really wanted to hear something like that when it looked like he had just crunched into the ground. "Are you ok?" She ran over and helped him to sit up, him wincing as he did so.

"Yeah, I just didn't expect to fall right from the ceiling. It could have dropped me off at the ground instead of leaving me up there." He said and she frowned at his words.

"What? How did you get here?"

"Well basically I had to go through a desert and then swim in a river and I ended up outside this building. I got in by answering the riddle and there was a ball of light. I touched it and I ended up here, feeling like I've broken several bones." He grinned as she laughed, rubbing his head.

"You saw a ball of light? Weird, I saw one too. It helped me fight the dragon out there." Rouge commented.

"What dragon? I didn't see one!"

"You didn't? But it was really big; it filled up the whole building. It wanted to burn me to death but there was a light and it helped me get through. I thought I recognised it but I don't know any balls of light…" Rouge mentally hit herself, realising how stupid that had sounded. But Tails seemed to nod in agreement.

"I know what you mean. All the way here I've been helped by people and I do know them from somewhere." Rouge smiled in thanks at his words when she saw him shivering slightly.

"Hey, you're cold…" She helped him up and they moved over to the fire where she placed a blanket over his shoulders. "It must have been from swimming in the river…"

"Yeah, I didn't get a chance to dry myself off properly." They sat together in silence until yet another body appeared in the room, although this time it was nearer to the ground.

"Is it over yet?" The voice said wearily and Tails turned around in happiness: it was Marie! Dropping the blanket on the floor, he ran up to her and hugged her tightly while Rouge watched sadly. Why wasn't Knuckles here yet?

"I never forgot you…" Tails murmured and Marie smiled, blushing slightly.

"Me neither." They let go of each other when they remembered that Rouge was still there and looked at her sheepishly.

"Don't worry, I'm glad that you two are happy." She said sincerely and they smiled in thanks before they sat once more by the fire. Rouge however remained standing, waiting anxiously for Knuckles' return.

Another bright flash was seen and Rouge turned around, hoping that he had finally arrived. When the light dimmed though, it was obvious it wasn't Knuckles, especially as the person was lying on the ground, butt up in the air.

"Hmm, not exactly a smooth landing eh Eggman?" She said, trying to stop herself from bursting into laughter but it /was/ funny, seeing Eggman with his fat butt waving around, looking like he had gone crazy with spit around his mouth.

"Don't start Rouge, I am not in a good mood after just being dumped on a stone ground." He sat up, face red and squashed before his head flopped forward, a groan escaping from his mouth. "Remind me to not touch anything which doesn't have any obvious means of support or glows without a source of electricity again." He mumbled before sitting up straight again.

"I think there are a lot of strange things in this place, things that don't seem physically possible." Tails pointed out and Eggman glanced over, seeming to notice him and Marie for the first time.

"Huh, finally got together I see…" He commented neutrally, causing Tails and Marie to blush, although they didn't deny his words. They didn't confirm them either though. "Talking of getting together, what about you and Knuckles? Are you going to try and sort that out at some point?"

"At some point." Was all Rouge replied, suddenly feeling down again after being temporarily lifted by Eggman's landing, or rather, a lack of it. Marie noticed this and moved closer to Rouge.

"Come on Rouge, don't be sad, I know you two are going to get back together…" She said optimistically but all Rouge could do was pull her knees to her chest and shiver slightly.

"I know but I want him now…" She said quietly, sobbing as her voice cracked. "I miss him so much and I bet he doesn't even care! It's all my fault!" She wailed, tears pouring down her face but for once she didn't care who saw how she felt, she just wanted-

"No Rouge, it's not your fault, don't ever say that." She heard a low voice behind her but didn't reply to it, her mind too hazy to make any connections. "I've always cared about you…" They murmured, placing two strong arms around her, protecting her from everything that was happening.

Knuckles stared down at the weeping form in front of him, his heart breaking at the sight, the damage he had caused her. He pulled Rouge closer to him, rocking her back and forth, waiting for her to realise it was him. He felt her move and looked down just as she looked up, their eyes meeting and for a moment, nothing happened. Then he saw a spark in them, like life had been returned to her and as she put her arms round him and their lips met, Knuckles never wanted to let go.

"I'm sorry…" He murmured, as they broke apart, hugging each other tightly. "I tried to be as quick as I could."

"What happened?" She asked as they shifted themselves so that she was sitting in his lap, leaning against his chest.

"I had to escape an avalanche but ended up in it until a winged person saved me." As he said this, Rouge felt him shiver and she took a blanket lying next to her and draped it over his shoulders. "Thank you."

"I'm not going to let you get ill, I've only just got you back." She replied in determination, smiling as he wrapped some of it around her too.

While all of this had been going on, the others had moved away slightly, wishing them privacy. They stared around the room, there seemed to be no obvious means of escape apart from a door. There was no clue as to what was supposed to happen now until Eggman spotted something in the furthest corner from them. He walked over and was surprised to see an array of various foods, seemingly edible and he taking a roll hesitantly, he ripped it open and smelt it before deciding it looked all right and stuffing it in his mouth.

Finally, some food! I haven't eaten for what seems like years! He exclaimed mentally, eating the rest of the roll. He heard footsteps near him and saw Tails and Marie standing nervously behind him.

"Is that food?" Tails asked faintly and Eggman nodded his head. Seeing Marie's strange look, he explained. "I was in this desert and surrounded by food but I couldn't eat any of it. That was harsh…" He said the last bit to himself and Marie shook her head, wondering how some people could be so melodramatic.

"We should take some of it over to the fire, maybe Knuckles and Rouge want something to eat." She suggested and nodding their heads in agreement, they gradually made their way back to the other corner, food in their arms, which Rouge and Knuckles met with cheerfully.

"I am quite hungry now I think about it." Rouge commented.

The group had finished eating and not thinking of much else to do, decided to get some well deserved rest. Knuckles and Rouge snuggled up together, thankful that they had this chance to be with each other until whatever was supposed to happen happened. They didn't talk about the conversation they had had before they left the others, both nervous that if they discussed it, more problems would arise. It would be left until afterwards, when they were back in a normal place, surrounded by normal things…

They all dozed off one by one; unaware of the glowing red eyes watching them, waiting until they were in the deepest slumber to attack and finish off those who would help those destined to destroy the master…

CRASH!

"Argh!" Marie screamed, the sound waking her up and causing her to become frightened. She thought it was going to end…

"What the hell is going on?" Rouge grumbled as she sat up, only to notice for the first time the glowing eyes. And their source… "It's you again!" The robot nodded its head and the light in the eyes was concentrated into the pupils, making it even more eerie than before.

"Yes, it is I! I was telling the truth when I said we would meet again. Except this time you will feel my full wrath and suffer the consequences of getting in my master's way along with all your other friends!"

Other things stepped out from the shadow and it was like they were looking in the mirror, faced by metal versions of themselves. The rest of the group had stood up by this point, making various exclamations apart from Marie, who just felt a growing sense of panic. How had she managed to get involved in this and why was there a copy of her standing there, staring at her like that?

"Do you think we will let you defeat us when you took our friends?" Knuckles yelled and the fake Rouge turned to him, seeming to be only one that could speak.

"Oh but that's where you're wrong, dear Knuckles. It wasn't us who took your friends… And as for your question…yes, you will be defeated. Not only that, you will be annihilated…"

It dodged forward, heading for Rouge as the other metal versions did the same for their person. Soon Knuckles and Rouge were exchanging blows with the impostors, having enough skill to look after themselves and even Tails was getting by but Eggman and Marie were in trouble. Eggman had always relied on robots or his Hornet when it came to fighting and Marie had never so much as raised a fist to someone before, let alone fight for her life.

"Help me!" She screeched as the robot got close enough to swipe her face, causing her to reel away. "I don't know what to do…" She sobbed, now a quivering mess on the floor, trying to scrabble away from the threat in front of her.

"I'm coming Marie!" She recognised the voice but it wasn't coming from any of the people in this room. A roaring sound filled her ears and she squinted at the noise until she saw who was standing in front of her. Or rather, what was.

A shot of fire was making its way through the room, attacking everything and Marie cried out in pain, feeling the sting of her skin burning. Another voice was yelling out, trying to calm down the flames and they seemed to subside slightly from Marie and the others, concentrated on the robots until screaming was heard, the metal being ripped and torn apart. Little soon remained, piles of flowing liquid and powder the only evidence they had existed.

She turned her focus to the two people standing in the middle of the room; well one of them was standing anyway. The other was sitting on the ground, breathing deeply as though trying to get control of her mind. Did they cause the flames?

"Wait, are you the ones who have been helping us?" Tails asked, stepping towards them nervously, still not sure if they were friendly or not.

"That Tails, I think is obvious." The one who was standing up replied. She stared at them with her deep brown eyes while they looked over her, taking in the purple top and cream trousers, the boots and the tail and horns.

"Why do you have a tail?"

"And horns?" Knuckles and Rouge asked, blushing in embarrassment when they realised how rude their questions sounded.

"Perk of having to look slightly menacing…" She shrugged her shoulders before kneeling down beside the other figure. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just a bit shaken. I didn't mean to lose control like that…" They now turned to this girl, her black wings taking up most of their sight although they glimpsed more purple and black. She twisted to look at them, allowing them to see her cherry hair and purple eyes. "I'm sorry, are any of you hurt? From the fire I mean?" When they all said no she smiled and stood up.

"Well that's good."

"Err, this may sound rude but…who are you?" Marie asked and they glanced at each other, laughing at the same time.

"Sorry, I can imagine you're confused at the moment. My name is Shaylea, and this is my good friend and fellow helper Kensa." The winged one replied, bowing dramatically and getting an elbow in the side in return from Kensa.

"Please ignore her, she's delusional most of the time." Kensa commented and she sat down while Shaylea pouted at her.

"I am /not/ delusional…" She muttered. The others followed their lead, waiting for them to say more about themselves. When it soon became obvious they weren't going to, Marie asked them another question.

"Why are you helping us?"

"Because Sonic and Shadow aren't the only prisoners here. The master is angry and we have to stop him, he wants to do bad things to you and everyone else who is like yourself…" Shaylea answered coyly, looking down into her lap.

"Yes, one of you said something like that to me. What is so special about us?" Eggman said.

"You're heroes, all of you. Yes, even you and Marie. All heroes have something inside of them that the boss can pick up on, he feeds off it, and it makes him stronger. You have to stop him before he carries out his plan to take over the world, using the power of all champions in order to do so." Kensa explained eagerly, knowing there could be problems with trying to get them to help. Some of them were less trusting than others…

"There are other people in the world? Who?"

"You met some of them while looking for Shadow. Everyone you met would be affected, and more. You have to help us, please." She said desperately, her powers telling her that someone was close and it wasn't Gregg, which meant it could only be someone bad…

"Of course we will but we want to see Sonic and Shadow. Can you take us to them?" Knuckles said and Kensa nodded, standing up.

"Yes but we have to hurry, someone is coming…" They all looked around in alarm at her words while Shaylea tried to pull them into a standing position. "I need you to hold hands so I can teleport us all away from here, it's the only way to get out."

They hesitantly did as she said, Knuckles and Rouge squeezing each other for reassurance and once they were all in place, Kensa closed her eyes and they felt a familiar sensation, as though they had touched a ball of light…

S. Chensu: Oh yeah, we're on a roll! To get this thing quickly finished before schoolwork becomes a real issue (I've got my A-Levels and Luff has her GCSEs, very important exams) as I'm retaking a few exams, I'm doing episode 34 for Saturday.

Luff: And I'm doing 37 on Sunday while Chen is at work. If you're wondering why 37 it's because it's very long and it's going to take at least a day to do.

S. Chensu: Plus if we write it early it means we can do a final grammar and spelling check on all the other episodes before it gets posted up. And while Luff is doing 37, I'll be doing 35.

Luff: Let's just say it will be done soon, honestly! But thank you for sticking with us, those who have been there since the beginning and hopefully the ending will be up to scratch.

S. Chensu: As for today, we realise the battle was short and the ending was…limp to say the least but episode 34 is sort of a continuation.

Luff: But until Saturday, please review! They've been a bit rare recently and we want to know there are still readers out there.

S. Chensu: Byesie bye!


	34. The Final Rest

S. Chensu: Yeah, yeah, we're late as usual.

Luff: You should really expect this by now. It's all Chen's fault.

S. Chensu: What? Why?

Luff: Because you insisted on finishing the chapters for your three other stories before helping me with this…

S. Chensu: But I got them done, finally. I mean, I did start two of them in June…

Luff: No excuse! Anyway lovely readers, you may be pleased to hear that since we are nearing the end of the story, we're going through the beginning chapters and checking and adding little bits where they're lacking.

S. Chensu: Yep, we've got 1-3 and 20-29 done. There's not much change but hopefully when it's completed it'll look like the same amount of development's been spent on all of them.

Luff: But we won't worry about that now, onto replies! Lots of flattering, ooh…

Yugi and Mai- Mai, how can watching Beyblades be more important than our story? Ooh, little Yugi is sleepy, Chen would love to keep you company…along with Yami…heh. You shouldn't even attempt to imagine Eggman's arse in the air! And if you still don't understand the floating balls of light then you're an idiot! See, ratty boy can update on time but it's been hard trying to get this thing finished off along with schoolwork. Yes, that wonderful thing known as /school/… Which reminds Chen, what are you doing reviewing during such an important lesson? Tisk, typical…

the funk master- We're glad you found the monkey; it's one of a kind and took a lot of work! We hope the aliens didn't turn on you afterwards, that could have been painful. And if there are no bars on the cage then how will it see outside?

Jazzy887- Wow, new reviewer we think! Welcome! And thank you very much for the review! And yay, a Feeder fan! It's one of Chen's favourite songs ever; we just never want to imagine Eggman singing it…

xoticlightning- Ooh, don't, you're making us blush! Hopefully it'll be even better because we're rewriting the beginning bits. Keep on reading, we know updates don't come often but they will eventually arrive!

Snow-the-hedgehog- Thank you for another review! Sorry it wasn't up on Saturday, but as we said, we were out and didn't get the chance to finish it off. And Shadow/Rouge? We haven't read many sonic stories, are there any good S/R stories you can recommend?

DorkLotus- Thank you, thank you, thank you! Hopefully the rewrites will make it even better… And you're an intelligent reviewer! No one else has mentioned Gelest and Zelgan. Now we can't tell you anything, or it would spoil the plot but keep them in the back of your mind, they will make an appearance, very soon…

Captain Yasha and ALNhiei- Glad you're very excited and sorry about the long wait. And here is the next one and we think it's turned out ok. See what you think…

comnerd- Well, if you really want to use chapter 33 for getting high on then by all means. Fixes of the STREKS don't come very often though; you'll have to use the reposted ones instead… Are you British too?

S. Chensu: Why do we bother with the disclaimer? Next time either of us do a story, we won't make it this long, just because of it.

Luff: But now onto the story!

**Episode thirty-four: The Final Rest**

"What were you going to say?" Sonic asked once Shaylea had left the room. Well, they had more sprinted, something was happening sooner than it was supposed to obviously.

"Well, while you were asleep Shaylea told me something." Shadow started, choosing his words so he wouldn't put any unnecessary distress on Sonic. "She showed me the Book of Knowledge and it said…" He closed his eyes, trying to remember the exact words. "One day two will be captured, hedgehogs and brothers, not only by blood but by heart and soul too."

"Wait, did you say 'brothers'?" Sonic sat up straighter, the blanket sliding off him. "You're seriously saying we're related?" The events of the last few hours forgotten, this new bit of information had completely got Sonic's attention. "Wow, that's really weird. I mean, we're completely different. You're a lot older than I am and our markings are different…" He appeared to see Shadow in an entirely new light; this seemed to have answered some questions in his mind. "That's quite cool…"

Shadow stared at him strangely, not expecting him to make this last comment and he was even more perplexed when Sonic put the blanket back round him and appeared to doze off. How could he be so relaxed?

"Sonic, don't you think it's slightly bad that these things always manage to happen to you? You've been through so many things, life tries to make itself difficult just for you but you've just accepted it. How do you do that?" Sonic opened his eyes and frowned, pondering on how to answer this question.

"Well I used to think that, that life was out to get me and I'd never have any peace but one day I heard a song and it totally changed my outlook on life." He explained and now Shadow frowned.

"How can a song change your life like that?"

"Quite easily if you listen to what it's trying to say. Look, I'll tell you the words and you'll see." Sonic sat up slightly and Shadow nodded his head.

"Ok then."

"It goes a little something like this…" Sonic started. "Unemployment at a record high

People coming people going, people born to die

Don't ask me, because I don't know why

But it's like that and that's the way it is"

"Well, that makes sense I suppose…"

"People in the world trying to make ends meet

You try to ride car, train, bus or feet

I said you got to work hard you want to compete

It's like that, and that's the way it is"

"Huh?" Shadow was now slightly confused. "But Sonic, you don't work…"

"Money is the key to end all your woes

Your ups, your downs, your highs and your lows

Won't you tell me last time that love bought your clothes?

It's like that, and that's the way it is"

"Sonic, did you hear what I just said? You've never had to worry about money problems in your whole life!"

"Bills rise higher every day

We receive much lower pay

I'd rather stay young, go out and play

It's like that, and that's the way it is

"Huh?" Shadow was so dumbfounded he was now just making sounds. He wasn't sure about Sonic's mentality, especially as he was now putting a tune to this and it didn't sound too good.

"Wars going on across the seas

Street soldiers killing the elderly

Whatever happened to unity?

It's like that, and that's the way it is"

"Well at least he isn't talking about his non existent money problems anymore…" Shadow muttered to himself.

"Disillusion is the word

That's used by me when I'm not heard

I just go through life with my glasses blurred

It's like that, and that's the way it is"

"Sonic, you don't even wear glasses! How is this song relevant to you?"

"You can see a lot in this lifespan

Like a bum eating out of a garbage can

You noticed one time he was your man

It's like that, and that's the way it is"

"What? Why do people eat out of garbage cans? Sonic, are you trying to say you have an ex boyfriend who eats garbage now?"

"You should have gone to school

You could've learned a trade

But you laid in the bed where the bums have laid

Now all the time you're crying that you're underpaid

It's like that, and that's the way it is"

"Well I can understand that, Sonic really needs to go back to school, maybe that'll make him normal again." Shadow commented thoughtfully.

"Check this out:

One thing I know is that life is short

So listen up homeboy give this a thought

The next time someone's teaching why don't you get taught?

It's like that, and that's the way it is"

"What's a homeboy? And don't most boys live at home anyway? And Sonic, my life has been very long so far. And you should really listen to your own words too." Shadow was picking out holes in all of Sonic's words; didn't he listen to what he was saying? Ah, stupid question, of course not.

"If you really think about it times aren't that bad

The one that flexes with successes will make you glad

Stop playing; start praying you won't be sad

It's like that, and that's the way it is"

"Uhh…" Shadow couldn't think of anything to say to that, although he still wasn't persuaded.

"When you feel you fail sometimes it hurts

For a meaning in life is why you search

Take the bus or the train, drive to school or the church

It's like that, and that's the way it is"

"Yeah, makes sense." Shadow was starting to see Sonic's point of view now.

"Here's another point in life you should not miss

Do not be a fool who's prejudiced

Because we're all written down on the same list

It's like that and that's the way it is" Sonic took in a deep breath, signifying the end of the song.

"Too true…" Shadow murmured and Sonic smiled at him.

"See what I mean? You know it's like that, and that's the way it is because it's like that, and that's the way it is." Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "That's why I'm relaxed. It's how I view things. Maybe one day you will too."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Hey, where are we?" Tails asked when he finally was able to look around. He saw lots of rock shaped into a corridor and a large door in front of them, made out of the same material, cleverly hiding it from those who didn't look properly.

"We are standing in front of the room that contains your friends." Kensa explained, causing the others to start. Somehow it seemed odd that after all this time it would end so quickly.

"What's the catch?" Eggman asked, quite rightly in his opinion, who frowned when Shaylea giggled at his question.

"There is no catch, apart from the fact you can't open the door." They stared at her in increasing disbelief and she laughed once more. "Only people of this realm can. Like me for instance." She placed her hand on the door and there was a deep rumbling before a crack appeared in the stone, increasing until it was big enough for them to walk through.

"And so you finally arrive at the place your friends are being kept…" Kensa said, allowing them to go first.

They stared in amazement at the sheer /height/ of the room, the ceiling unknown to their eyes. They then saw the two hanging objects in the room, the light seeming to fall on them, like two statues. The glow allowed them to see the two hedgehogs, the friends they had been searching so long for…

"SONIC, SHADOW!" Tails screamed, running forward, his neck craning as he tried to get a better look at them. Were they hurt?

"Tails!" Sonic said cheerfully, reassuring them that they were ok.

"Hey guys, come over here!" Shaylea said excitedly and puzzled, they did as she said and she smiled to herself before putting her hands out in front of her. The ground shook slightly before being ripped away and they were now flying into the air, screaming at the sudden movement.

"What's going on?" Rouge yelled and Shaylea grinned as they came to a halt. "What was that for?"

"Look behind you." She did so and saw that they were now at the same level as Sonic and Shadow.

"Wow Shaylea! Thank you!" Kensa opened the doors and Rouge instantly rushed forward, pulling both of them into a hug.

"It's so good to see that you're ok!" She gushed while Sonic and Shadow struggled for breath.

"They won't be ok if you don't let them go Rouge! Calm down!" Eggman commented and she did so, blushing slightly.

"Uh, sorry about that…" She muttered, standing back so the others could greet them properly.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure Sonic's had worse things happen to him…" Shadow said, not noticing the look of utter horror on Sonic's face as he shuddered slightly.

"Yeah, lots of worse things…"

"Right, now we've all said hello etc etc we really should get going." Kensa said business like and the group frowned at her.

"Why?" She didn't say anything and Shadow frowned. "Tell us what's going on…"

"Well, the master /does/ know everything that's going on here. Therefore, he knows you're here and no doubt he's going to try and do something to change that…" Kensa said a little nervously and Sonic sighed.

"Oh well, I suppose this was going to happen sooner or later." He stepped forward and out of the cage, opened previously by Kensa. "Let's go and face our destiny Shadow…"

"What?" Tails voiced the opinion of the group in general and Sonic smiled sadly at him.

"This was always going to happen, it's been foretold…"

"Hey, where's Gregg gone to? We haven't seen him in ages." Shaylea commented, not realising that she had interrupted something important. Tails scowled slightly but Sonic just shrugged his shoulders.

"No, Gregg's completely disappeared as far as we know…" Shadow said instead.

"Hmm…" Kensa closed her eyes, trying to sense anything nearby which might have been him.

A flash of bars and figures behind them, rows upon rows and the one thing Kensa could sense was misery, seeping out of every pore and she instantly shook the image away from her head, disturbed by what it might have been trying to tell her.

"Hey, did you see anything?" Shaylea asked while the others looked on in confusion.

"I think It knows, It knows what's happened, everyone's locked away…" Kensa breathed quietly and Shadow quickly made the connections.

"You mean they've locked Gregg away?" Kensa nodded her head and he considered this. "We should get everyone out of here before it gets too dangerous." He suggested and Sonic agreed, understanding what Shadow was trying to say.

"Can you get us there?"

"Yes, I know where it is now but it might be dangerous…" She glanced over at Marie who had remained quiet diligently but puffed up when she saw the look on her face.

"Oh no, you're not going to leave me behind! I've proved myself as much as the others have, don't even think about it!" Surprised by her outburst, Kensa immediately shrugged her shoulders.

"I wasn't thinking about you in particular…" She said in a soothing voice. "Come on, we'd better get going."

They set off out of the room, striding in newfound confidence since they had found Sonic and Shadow and knowing that they had the help of these two seemingly powerful people too. They remained quiet, Knuckles and Rouge holding hands as Kensa led the way, her face set and body stiff with tension. Shaylea knew her well enough to not try and get her to relax, it's not like she would have listened anyway. She merely wondered how they were going to get everyone out without someone noticing…

"Gregg will help them…" Kensa murmured and Shaylea shot a slightly quizzical look.

"Have you been reading my mind again?"

"No, it's just that it's prominent in my mind too. But I think Gregg will know what to do, he always does." Kensa smiled in reassurance and Shaylea nodded her head in agreement.

"Of course he will! Everything's going to be cool!" She said cheerfully and Kensa couldn't help but smile at her unfaltering optimism. She always managed to cheer her up…

"Yeah…"

Her voice died away as she saw the room in front of her, her vision flashing once more before her eyes and she knew without a doubt she was in the right place. Although the large number of cages confirmed her thoughts anyway.

"Can you find Gregg?" Shaylea asked faintly.

"I imagine you just have to follow the smell." Kensa said and it took Shaylea a few moments to realise what she had said.

"Wait, did you just say something that was supposed to be taken as a joke?" She slapped Kensa's forehead with her hand, closing her eyes as though deeply contemplating this. "Hmm, you don't feel hot…"

"Humph, I know how to joke!"

"Oh really? If so, then tell me a joke right now!"

"Now is not the time to joke around!" Kensa snapped, clapping her hand over her mouth when she realised what she had just said. "Oh crap…"

"Uh huh, you cannot fool me! Kensa, you will never be able to joke." Shaylea said seriously and then brightened up. "Well, I suppose we'd better get the old sour puss then eh?"

"Don't let him hear you call him that!" Sonic said, glad that there was someone else who was able to joke like him.

"Well there's not much he can do about it, seeing as he's stuck behind bars."

"Hey, I think he's over there!" Shadow yelled, trying to get them back on track. They followed his finger and lo and behold, one dwarf skeleton in a cage.

"Oh yep, that's him all right."

The group trekked over to the cage quickly after first checking there were no Arcs nearby. As they got closer, they saw Gregg talking to a small red hedgehog, black streaks staining his fur and Marie frowned, recognising him from somewhere. Then the name came to her.

"STREEK!" He turned around, hearing his name and frowned when he saw her.

"Marie, what are you doing here?" He then noticed the others and wondered how she had managed to get involved with them.

"We've come to rescue everyone! Come on, we have to get you out of here!"

"Hey, what's going on here? What have you two done this time?" Gregg said in his usual friendly fashion and Shaylea giggled.

"We haven't done anything, it seems to have all started by itself! We're here to rescue you but you're going to have to get them out yourself, we've got to deal with the master." The other prisoners watched on with amazement, wondering who these strange people were. And did they say they were going to get them out?

"Yes, that is now obvious to me. Let a few of us out and we'll deal with the others."

"That would be best, then we can go and find the master."

Soon Gregg, Streek and two indescribable creatures were standing together and Gregg sent them off to start opening the rest of the cages before turning back to the group.

"Good luck everyone, fortune is on your side. Just remember if you don't accept defeat you cannot be defeated." And with that Gregg turned away, leaving them to contemplate his words.

"Well that was cheerful of him. He's right though, we should get going." Sonic said and once more Kensa led the way, all thoughts seemingly gone from her mind.

"Really subtle isn't he?" Rouge said distastefully as they stood in front of what could only be described as a shrine, steps leading up to a plateau with large pillars on either side, rock seeming to hang like a pair of curtains on either side.

"Well you probably wouldn't have actually seen it if it wasn't for us." Shaylea said quietly as they made their way up the stairs.

"Thank you for being here with us Shaylea and Kensa. I'm not sure how we would have got here without you." Eggman suddenly said, causing the two girls to blush.

"I'm sure something would have happened anyway…" Kensa muttered.

"I agree, you have helped us so much and we don't even know anything about you. When we're done with this, you'll tell us won't you?" Sonic asked but they didn't reply, instead stopping about ten feet away from the door, and their final challenge.

"Everyone ready?" Kensa announced and the others stood in battle poses, eyes focused on the door before stepping forward, ready to face their end, whichever way it would go. "Your greatest fear…" Shadow recognised those words and an image passed through his mind of the person who had said them. He tried to ask them but it was too late, they were already walking through the door…

S. Chensu: Yep, the ending is crap.

Luff: Our time keeping is crap too, this episode is /so/ late!

S. Chensu: But we've been so tied up with schoolwork that whenever we get to this we're just too tired to do anything.

Luff: But we're only a few episodes away until the end so hopefully you'll continue to stick with us.

S. Chensu: So until the next time (whenever that is, hopefully by the end of the month), please review!


	35. Isolated Judgment

S. Chensu: Well, the episode is up…just not at the end of October like I predicted in the last episode…

Luff: Yeah…I can tell --

S. Chensu: Heh, nevermind. I'll just get on with some reviewer replies!

Dragon Master Naya- School work, trying to get some qualifications so our parents don't moan at us! Not a good excuse but it's true so oh well! At least this one was put up sooner…?

the funk master- Ah, maybe it is a chitinous layer on the outside and breaths via- Chen is gagged Sorry about that, Chen tried to use her (very basic) knowledge of science (Hey, I do Biology and Chemistry for A Level I'll have you know!) to explain how it could breathe. It's got her thinking though, far too deeply…

Yugi and Mai- We're sorry, we thought we told you! And what is the song about? And the other one too? Talking of chocolate Yami, Chen hasn't told you about her new story idea yet! She will do when she next sees you… By the way, the tomb robber isn't smelly; if he was then why did Yami do lots of interesting things with his tongue last night then? Heh… And also, it's spelt motto, not moto. And royal shortness is a bit generous, how about royal dwarfness instead? Is that song to do with Kaiba because if so I can tell him that he has no friends because he's a bastard! And nobody would want to be in his shoes anyway, don't be so presumptuous!

MUWAHAHAHAHAAAA!Ahem...Mai- Just ignore the stupid short arse, he not worth bothering about! Chen has writer's block too, that's why she hasn't posted any of her stories up yet… She will do though, at some time… Maybe when she's retired…

Just a random thing from Yugi- Nice…

Mokey (now known as Lia Xaragi)- Hopefully you've read a little bit more of this story now and it lives up to your expectations. It's not that good really…and the next update is now! Yeah, we love your stories too, Chen is a bit too obsessed, she thinks your new Yu-Gi-Oh! one is hysterical, especially when Bakura takes over Yugi (typical, that something like that is her favourite part…) Anyway, we'll continue looking for updates on your stories while we try to get this finished…

Mai.The anomynous being,who is no longer anomynous to you- Does he now? Hmm, I'll have to investigate… grabs a spoon and uses it to dig out of the padded room As Chen said, ignore the short arsedness, he doesn't matter, Yami only cares about him when he's in bed…so that does actually make it no one. Glad you liked the song, Chen loves it lots and lots…

Yugi and Mai- This is getting a little repetitive now…especially the names because Chen knows they're just your little pet names! And about the song…hmm. Chen'll think of something in a minute… Nope, nothing. And here is our update. And congratulations on finally getting on here, it took you long enough!

Luff- You know, it feels very odd replying to someone who's written this story… Heh. And yeah, the day off was nice and so is this one too! And now I've done this chapter, you have to do your Pressures of Life story, so nuh!

Yugi and Mai- No nothing's happening, it does it all the time when we're checking the format's ok and all that. At least, we don't think anything's happened… By the way, we told you to review once and that's it! Stupid Pharaoh!

Captain Yasha and ALNhiei- Yeah, yeah we're updating as quickly as we can! But we're nearly done now, so close… And good luck with your story, you've probably already updated while we're still floundering!

michael- We think you're a new reviewer so…WELCOME! We hope the ending is up to your expectations and it'll be soon! And you'll find out who Shaylea and Kensa are either at the end of this episode or in the next one. We haven't decided yet, it depends how long this one is… Unfortunately, we haven't written any other Sonic stories and all the others we have done aren't really like this one. Apart from Chen's Super Smash Bros one but that hasn't got very far yet…

xoticlightning- We've never read the Boxcar Children books but we're sorry it's too cheery! Hopefully you'll have read a little bit more by now and it's won't be so happy. And we did write the beginning chapters two years ago when we young and innocent so that might explain the continual optimism in them.

S. Chensu: We don't own this so let's go!

Episode thirty-five: Isolated Judgment 

The room was gloomy and it was hard to tell anything at all, apart from the fact they were standing near someone else. The air seemed musty, dry, like nothing living had been in here for a long time. But how could that be when it was obvious they were going to face the big boss? Did they not know something about him, something very important?

"Kensa, are you sure the boss is in here? Maybe we're in the wrong place…" Sonic said loudly, causing several pairs of eyes to turn and glare at him.

"Just shut up Sonic, you might attract unwanted attention!" Knuckles hissed and Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Well it knows we're coming anyway so there's no point in us being secretive about it." He pointed out.

"Yes…I can see you…" A familiar voice murmured and Shaylea whimpered, taking a step backwards.

"Kensa…what happened?" She said, not able to believe she had lost the person who had always been there for her so easily. The battle hadn't even begun yet…

"Don't worry, she knew this would happen…but you'll soon join her…" There was another tone to her voice now, a darker part that pushed through and overtook what had been Kensa…

"Show yourself! Stop using others and let us see you!" Sonic yelled, stepping forward, hands clenched tightly in anger.

"But you already have Sonic. After all, did you not see the Book?"

"How do you know about that?" Shaylea gasped, speaking for the first time.

"Because I read every single one of your thoughts! I know all about it, how you place your stupid hopes in it! You didn't think it would go unnoticed for so long now did you? Dear dear me…" It teased, seeming to draw them in, like fingers coaxing them towards something unknown.

"And why are you so confident you're going to beat us?" Marie piped up, holding Shaylea's hand to try and comfort her. She wasn't sure why, but it seemed like she was a friend.

"Because there is no alternative. There is only one future: one where your wrecked bodies are scattered throughout this place, alone and uncared for! You may try and act brave but I can tell you're just a little frightened girl! Do you think you can defeat me, broken and divided, unable to work together? I know about your pasts, your little bickers and the danger you put the world in as you tried to prove yourselves to each other! So in fact, we're quite similar to each other-"

"SHUT UP!" Shaylea suddenly screamed, storming forward and pushing Kensa hard. "STOP LYING! STOP IT!" She started sobbing, stumbling backwards, supported by both Rouge and Marie. "JUST GET ON WITH IT!"

"Ok then, if you insist…"

Kensa started to float into the air, a strange liquid pouring out of her, forming a face with two holes that were eyes before she dropped to the floor quickly, her body bouncing as it hit the hard ground. Shaylea went to run to her but she was held back as the others looked on in horror at the growing face. The liquid turned to symbols, numbers and letters jumbled up into an unknown language, if it was one, and suddenly they heard a snapping of fingers, causing spotlights to flood the area in a blinding radiance. They looked around, startled to see that they were now on a walkway, a vacuum of stars surrounding them, meteors held up by unknown strings. There was no way this could have been real…

"Wait, this is where…" Shadow said and turned to stare at Sonic, who was doing exactly the same thing. They had had their last battle against each other here, it was exactly the same…

"Well I'm glad you recognise it because that means you should know what happens next…" The voice flickered, changing in volume, like it couldn't decide what it should sound like and Shadow gasped, instantly grabbing Marie, who would probably struggle the most.

"EVERYONE MOVE! THIS WALKWAY'S GOING TO COLLAPSE!" He yelled before setting off full pelt away from the boss.

"What does he mean?" Eggman said to himself before feeling the platform he was standing on sink slightly, cracks appearing on the surface. "Ah, that's what he meant, the walkway's collapsing…" He contemplated this for a moment before his eyes widened and he let off a string of curses. It's time like these I really wish I had done more exercise…

"That's right Eggman, it's time to work that flab off!" The face cackled as Eggman followed the others' example, albeit at a slightly slower pace.

Now it was each for their own, their first concern surviving this nightmare until the scenery changed. After all, if it wasn't originally like this then surely this wasn't real. It must just be a hologram and if that was so, then there must be a control for it somewhere. Well it made logical sense to Eggman anyway.

"Oh but you're so wrong Eggman. This is my world and anything could happen. Your knowledge is so limited here, your mind could not even begin to comprehend what I can achieve!" It paused in its incessant whispering as though considering something. "But then of course, you could always find out for yourself."

"What…?"

Suddenly the platforms were falling faster, and Eggman, already going at full pelt couldn't dredge anymore energy together in order to go quicker. The support beneath him plummeted downwards and he travelled with it, letters and numbers streaming off him, his body breaking apart until a tiny essence was left, drifting into nothingness…

"EGGMAN!" Tails screamed, glancing back for long enough to see the green lines streaming through the air, being sucked into the scenery.

"Come on Tails, we can't stop!" Marie yelled, struggling against the grip Shadow had her in as she tried to reach him.

"Marie, stop it…" Shadow grunted, a surprised look on his face when she managed to break free, running towards Tails. "Wait, you're going the wrong way!"

Tails was going so fast he didn't notice Marie coming towards him until it was too late, she had passed him, desperately trying to stop in time before she ran off the edge. She turned around in confusion, her voice suddenly lifeless, like she had lost all control over herself.

"Wait for me please." She simply stated before being sucked up amongst the mass of the Virus, barely acknowledging her new surroundings as she joined Kensa…somewhere.

The last bit of self restraint Shaylea had been holding onto finally snapped, she was an angry, flame covered wraith. All sense had gone from her mind and the only thought left was that she had to do whatever she could to stop the beast that was toying with them.

"ARGH!" She floated in space, her energy concentrated into white heat which poured away, annihilating everything in her path. She seemed an impenetrable force that would stop everything in its path and indeed, when she and the Virus finally clashed, the gang thought the end had finally been reached.

The fire spread into a wall and as the Virus was forced back by Shaylea, explosions causing shrapnel to land amongst those on the walkway. They grouped together, able to stand still for some reason and they watched as gradually cracks appeared in the fire, sliding down through the path and disappearing to the same mysterious realm as Eggman did. Soon a small figure was left, framed for a moment by light before it erupted, the Virus ripping into two and unable to put itself back together as the scene around them fell apart too.

"Goodbye, my friends…" They looked up in wonder, hearing the voice and watched as something white floated until it rested on the ground in front of them. Looking closer, they realised it was a feather and as it dulled, its shape began to fade until it was just a mound of ash. There was only one person they knew who had wings, someone who had just sacrificed themselves…

"No, not Shaylea too…" Rouge whispered, covering her face with her hands as Knuckles held onto her tightly.

They shivered as they felt a wind whistle past them, a laugh being carried along it causing the queasy feeling inside them. It grew and they saw the Virus reforming itself, seemingly unscratched despite what Shaylea had done.

"One more down and just five left to go. That may seem bad for me but I know something that will instantly get rid of three of you…"

"What is it talking about?" Tails whispered, backing away from it slightly. Not noticing the scenery, which had previously been blank since Shaylea disappeared, was now warping into something else…

"Just take a look around you…"

They did as it said and gasped, seeing something being sucked out of a hole in front of them, a new place being laid out before them. Only it wasn't new, it was yet another place they had been to quite recently. Somewhere Rouge, Knuckles and Tails didn't have the ability to survive: above Earth facing the Final Hazard.

Instantly the support beneath the three of them disappeared, and they were merely flame engulfed spots below Sonic and Shadow's feet, facing friction from falling so fast. They looked at each other in shock, not noticing for a moment that they had changed: brilliant and illuminating compared to the cold darkness of the surrounding space. They had somehow become their super forms, even though the seven Chaos emeralds were nowhere nearby, there was no Master Emerald, no shrine to place them in…

They warily watched the monster in front of them, wondering what it was going to do next when its eyes suddenly rested on them, processing what was happening before suddenly coming to a rest.

"And so this is the end. You both know you cannot survive long out here before losing your powers and succumbing to the same fate as your friends. You do not have the power to defeat me, only one does and they went a long time ago…" It paused, almost as though looking back on memories. "It is destiny that I take over the world and change it to what it was meant to be originally: a desolate and bleak place where nothing lives! People were never supposed to inhabit as far as they did, they weren't evolved enough to be able to do so. But something happened…" Sonic risked a glance at shadow to find out if he understood what was happening but didn't get a response. "/You/ happened! You and all of your freaks helped them out, even though they persecuted and hated you! You should have given up but you didn't!"

This bit of information completely stopped Sonic and Shadow in their current thinking. Earth wasn't supposed to be like it was at the moment? That this battle should strictly speaking mean loss for them so things could go the way they should have done? But the Virus had always been portrayed as evil; Its name was evil in itself. Something was missing and they were not going to be told about it. It didn't matter what things /should/ have been like, it was what they were like now that mattered.

"You'll never defeat us! Things happen for a reason, you can't say the Earth isn't supposed to look like it is now!" Shadow yelled, stepping forward.

"Well it doesn't really matter; it took up some time at least." It said triumphantly and they realised with horror that they had lost precious time listening to him talking.

They were both stuck for ideas. He was too strong to defeat physically and they didn't know his weakness either. Everything was frozen; it was like they were just waiting for everything to end…

Do not give up, It has made a grave miscalculation… They were surprised at the voice, they had never heard it before and the Virus did not seem to have noticed its appearance. I am the one who can defeat It and I'm still alive and strong enough to stop It.

"Who are you?" Sonic said aloud, not sure what else he could do in the situation.

My name is Norton and I am an anti-virus. It replied and suddenly they noticed a shimmering yellow figure standing behind them, staring at the Virus. I can defeat him but I need more time…

"Well, there is one thing I could do…but I don't know how long you'll get." Sonic suggested slowly and Shadow turned to him, puzzled.

"Sonic…?"

"But we've got to do it now, I don't have much power left and it needs a lot." Seeing Shadow's puzzled look, he explained further. "It's called Time Stop. It can freeze the Virus but I don't know for how long."

"Sonic, you'll kill yourself trying that now! You can't!" Shadow suddenly yelled out desperately, realising how much Sonic meant to him. They were brothers, it wasn't right for Sonic to do this…

"You've helped us before and now it's my turn. That's just the way it is…" Sonic said, shrugging his shoulders.

"No! Please…don't…" Shadow breathed, looking away so he didn't have to see what would happen next.

"TIME STOP!" Sonic yelled and blue light shone out from him, hitting the Virus and causing It to almost crystallise, everything tinged like it was coated in sapphire.

Norton flew forwards as fast as It could, reaching the Virus and starting to break down the strands of symbols but Shadow wasn't concerned about this. Instead he stared as Sonic closed his eyes, falling backwards with his arms on either side of him, almost like he was flying. Shadow flew down to him and held him in his arms, desperately trying not to cry at the heavy weight of Sonic.

"Why did you…?" Shadow whispered, not noticing the familiar pain as they entered the atmosphere. He only cared about the fact that Sonic was going, he was alone, he hadn't even had the chance to know the only family member he had…

Shadow, come back! Norton yelled, taking his attention off the Virus for a moment to see where he was.

This was the chance It had been waiting for. Gathering all of Its energy together, It pushed through Norton to reach the two hedgehogs hurtling through the atmosphere. Norton was unsure of what to do: stop Its enemy or help the mortals? It merely hoped that the infection was deep enough to stop It before it was too late and watched as the two hedgehogs held onto each other, the Virus catching up to them…

Sonic's eyes snapped open, sensing the nearby danger and they widened, seeing the green mass flying towards them. He then saw Shadow close to him, still golden and unwrapped the arms around him, pushing Shadow away as the Virus caught up to them. It swallowed him, slowing down in the process and Norton saw Its last chance to finish It off. It smashed straight through It but it was too late, the monster had reached Shadow…

Shadow opened his eyes just in time to see a pair of jaws opening up around him before everything disappeared and he ceased to feel anything…

S. Chensu: Have they all survived to see another day?

Luff: Well duh, we've still got two episodes left…

S. Chensu: Shut up! Although you do have a point. Anyway, we're really sorry about the lateness of this but it's been hard to make this good and it was important to because it's the climax of the story.

Luff: The last couple of episodes are going to be more light hearted now, as should be in the end of all stories.

S. Chensu: So until then, please review! This story will be finished by the end of the Christmas holidays! PROMISE!

!"£$&()-# 


	36. The End to the War

Luff: Hello! This update is very quick compared the last one!

S. Chensu: That's because I'm so happy that my bit's finally over!

Luff: Yeah, we made an agreement that as long as she did the battle episode, I would do the last episode!

S. Chensu: Yes, the next episode is the last one! But there is an epilogue too.

Luff: But don't think sad things! Let's reply to the lovely reviewers who've waited so long for this and then start the episode!

**Yugi and Mai**- If you're having a heart attack then how come you could write a review? We're sorry about the cliff-hanger, Chen felt like being nasty! And, to quote: 'Question what could be better then a Yami with chocolate? A naked Yami covered in Chocolate of course!' That was the thing about chocolate you put in a review. And the tongue thing was in retaliation about you saying your precious tomby smelt! Not with the active service your tongue provides at least… And you'll find out whether he's ok in this episode. And it was a nice and quick update too. And we don't want to know what Mai is doing with…Tala… And you said to not ask who he was and then you told us anyway! You are very weird! And how can he be more important than our story!

**the funk master**- We're very sorry about the appalling joke, Chen came up with it when she was very young and stupid and decided to put it in anyway! How stupid can she be? Glad to know you note about the episode overall at the end…heh.

**Dragon Master Naya**- Well, we've got the next episode up today and the next one will be Christmas day and then the last one sometime at the beginning of January and then it's all done! We think we know the tune you're talking about (haven't been on SA2B for AGES) and yeah, it does fit quite well!

S. Chensu: We don't own Sonic. You already know this.

Luff: We would just like to warn you that this episode is quite light hearted. If you don't like happy endings, then don't read this.

S. Chensu: Now on you go!

**Episode thirty-six: The end to the war**

Through the mist loomed a shadowy figure, peering around slowly although this place was well known to him. He had been coming here since the beginning of time, endless people passing through this place, never staying here for long. The smoke withdrew slightly from the person, as though it feared him and eventually he came to a rest in front of something lying on the floor. He leant on his scythe, studying the figure from his height of roughly four feet before grabbing the tool and hitting the person with the butt of it.

Shadow's sight suddenly filled, although there wasn't much to see. He wondered if this was due to his eyes opening or whether there wasn't anything left to stop him from looking. He felt a great nothingness, only aware that something had come into contact with him, although he couldn't tell what it was or how hard it had touched him. Somehow he was able to change his view so the source of the feeling was in front of him and he stared at the figure in wonder, somehow they were familiar…

"Hmm, it must be around here somewhere…" It muttered, starting to pull out strands from what must have been his head area with his scythe. Shadow tensed slightly, wondering whether it would cut the stuff coming from him, still trying to remember the name of the person. It wasn't like it looked normal, after all, how many four feet skeletons did he know?

Gregg… This name floated in front of him and suddenly Shadow's mind was filled with information, like a light had been turned on and he was no longer blinded by doubt.

"GREGG!" Shadow screamed, hoping he could hear him. It was important that he realised he was still alive or…well, he didn't know what would happen to him but he'd rather not think about it. He ignored him though, continuing to search through the strands of what Shadow realised must be his mind.

"Hmm, he certainly has a lot of history…" Gregg commented, the memories becoming longer and longer.

"PLEASE GREGG! I'M ALIVE!" Shadow cried out in annoyance when he still got no response when a thought suddenly occurred to him: what if he was dead? Maybe Gregg was merely confirming it and once that happened, his soul would be released… "NO, I CAN'T BE DEAD!"

Gregg suddenly let go of the strand he had and leant on his scythe again, as though greatly considering something which had only just occurred in his mind. Shadow waited, hoping something would happened soon-

"No, he ain't dead yet!" He cackled and Shadow knew then that he had been joking the whole time, doing this to merely wind him up. And it had worked.

"GREGG!" Shadow yelled, sitting up as they appeared in the cave where the battle had started. "Wait until I get you!"

"Oops…" Gregg said quietly, sidling away from him quickly.

"Don't tell me he was alive the whole time? Gregg, that was a really nasty thing to do!" Kensa scolded, dragging the skeleton off to shout at him some more.

"Poor old Gregg…" Shaylea giggled, swimming into Shadow's view. "Hey, are you ok?" She added, noticing the blank look on Shadow's face.

"Am I alive?" Everything seemed like a dream, slower than it should be.

"Of course you are! Come on, I can't restrain the others for much longer!" She said cheerfully, helping him up.

Wondering what she meant, he peered behind her and saw the rest of the group staring despondently at the ground. He smiled, surprised that they would be that upset over him when Sonic happened to look up in his direction. They stared at each other, seconds passing by before Sonic suddenly leapt up, running towards him.

"SHADOW!" As he got nearer, Shadow wondered what Sonic was going to do. Hugging him during the battle had seemed like a natural thing to do but now…he didn't know what would happen. He felt awkward, standing there but he seemed to go into autopilot as soon as Sonic arrived, high fiving him. "I knew you weren't dead!"

"Yeah, it was no problem." Shadow said coolly and Sonic raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

"Uh huh."

Shadow gasped in shock when he felt himself being bowled over by something white and girly, sobbing uncontrollably as they held onto him as tightly as they could while Shadow struggled to breathe. He turned his head, with trouble, to watch the tears pour down Rouge's face, Knuckles standing at the side, staring at her with concern.

"Don't ever do that again!" She wailed, looking like she could carry on crying for several more hours.

"I'm sorry…" Shadow whispered, hugging her back. "I'm not going anywhere now, I'm right here." He soothed and she leaned back slightly to gaze into his eyes.

"Good." She said, nodding her head in approval as she took Knuckles' hand. "Because you'll have to do deal with me otherwise." She threatened, although the big smile on her face told Shadow that she was only joking.

"I'll bear that in mind." He gulped, noticing that everyone was now standing together. Including a certain skeleton who had played a joke on him… "So then Gregg, where were we?"

"Uh…nowhere! You were just about to thank me for getting you back to the real world…" He chuckled nervously, his escape route blocked by Kensa.

"Gregg, apologise to him for scaring him." She said sternly and he hung his head, sighing.

"Ok, ok…I'm sorry. It was just a joke; at least it woke him up…" He muttered and then looked up. "He didn't realise he was still alive until I started looking around his memories."

"You did what…?"

"Don't worry, there wasn't a lot there. Bit boring really." Gregg didn't realise he was digging himself a nice big hole and continued talking. "Yeah, but there was an interesting bit with-"

"Gregg."

"What?" He asked, looking up at Kensa who was glaring at him.

"Shut up."

The others laughed at the confused look on Gregg's face when Shadow felt something watching him. He spun around, only to find that the Book of Knowledge was lying on the floor, open at a page near the end of the tome. He walked over and knelt down in front of it, flicking through the pages until he got to the picture of him and Sonic standing together. Not that it had really ended up like that… Was there any truth in it?

"There's nothing else after that…" Shaylea said, a little sadly. "Shame really, now that all of this is over, things are going to get boring again. I enjoyed this in a way." Seeing the puzzled expressions, she laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Now we've just got school and you can't really compare it to this, can you?"

"Wait, I wanted to ask you, before we entered here!" Shadow suddenly said, turning to Kensa. "You said something that someone else said before and I recognised it but I've only just realised it…"

"Shadow, what are you talking about?" Sonic asked, acting like he had gone delusional.

"You said the same words when we were on Kikuyu. But you were Zelgan then…" Shadow pointed at Kensa and everyone's eyes widened in typical soap fashion, gasping at the same time.

"Well how long did it take for you to work that out then?" Shaylea said suddenly, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I mean, how else did you think we knew you all so well? /Someone/ had to look after you."

"Wait, /you're/ Gelest?" Eggman said, thinking about this carefully. Somehow it seemed obvious now…

"And Sammie too. This is Emily." She added, causing everyone's expressions to become even more exaggerated.

"So you're all the same person? Why did you have three different disguises? All that trouble just for us?"

"Ok, I can tell this is going to take some time…" Kensa muttered, sitting down on the ground. "Right, we'll go through our story but no interruptions or anything like that?"

They nodded in agreement and following her example, settled themselves for what they hoped would be a long and /very/ good explanation. After all, not many people could change their appearance as radically as they had done without it being too obvious. But somehow it was and that was most irritating thing, that they had been fooled so easily.

"Basically the stuff about us being on the research station is true. And the thing with us finding Kikuyu and Mewtwo is true too. However, some time before you arrived, Norton came to us and told us what was going to happen. I don't know why us but we listened to him and agreed to his plan. We'd enrol at the local high school where you were going to and protect you until it was time." Kensa stopped, hoping they would be satisfied with this and Shaylea sighed, rolling her eyes.

"It's all a bit complicated and it would take us several years to explain this but after we enrolled, we stayed on Earth until Shadow stopped the ARK crashing into the planet. We'd been told that this was the sign which would signal the start of the plan so we went back to Kikuyu, helping you when you came along." Shaylea looked thoughtful at their story. "In a way, we're your guardian angels."

"So…you're not really Sammie and Emily?" Marie asked quietly, somehow feeling that a part of her had been lost. Her friends weren't real…

"Well, we are because it's our personalities but no, we weren't born them." Kensa said bluntly and Shaylea sighed, suddenly realising how Marie must had felt.

"When we go back we're going to go to school. There's no point in us staying on Kikuyu, it's pretty lonely up there and now we have friends to be with."

"Yes, we'll be Sammie and Emily from now on. After all, I think that's who we really are. And we enjoy being them too." As Kensa said this, there was a subtle change in their persons and the group realised that what they had said would hold from now on.

"Well I'm glad that's all been sorted out now…" Marie commented, stretching herself. "Now let's get out of here! I don't know about you guys but I want to go home."

"That sounds like a great idea. After being away for a couple of months it's sure going to be strange. But good too." Sammie said, smiling widely. Emily shook her head but was secretly happy that she had finally cheered up.

"You go on ahead; I'll catch up with you at some point." Gregg said sombrely as they leapt up in excitement, heading for the exit.

"But why? Don't you want to leave here?" Rouge asked in surprise, the others agreeing with her sentiment.

"Of course I do, I've just got to sort out a couple of things first. Don't worry; I'll come back to your flat sometime tomorrow." Gregg explained before he turned away and drifted into the shadows.

"Oh, ok." Sammie said quietly once he had gone.

"Come on, he'll be fine! Let's go!" Sonic said, dragging her by the arm and she nodded her head, letting herself be walked out of the room, the others following them.

The walk back to where the whole adventure had begun, outside in the crisp white snow at the side of a mountain, was a lot quicker than it had been getting to here. Somehow Emily was warping the scenery they were walking through so that they didn't see any of the ecosystems they had had to survive, which was a big relief to them all. And everything was lighter too, the Virus' aura obviously removed from the underworld known as Acumen.

They reached the entrance, stunned by the brightness of the outside world, especially as the snow reflected the sunlight. In fact, it looked like this area had hardly been disturbed since they had arrived, whenever that had been. The group looked around, wallowing in the vibrancy of everything when Tails suddenly noticed the Tornado hidden under a large pile of snow.

"No, the Tornado's ruined!" He wailed, running towards it as though getting there three seconds quicker than walking was going to make it any better.

"It's fine, there's nothing wrong with it. I mean, it didn't spend its whole time out here because you were in it in the desert. Remember?" Emily said sympathetically, easily removing the snow with her mind before allowing Tails to fuss over it some more.

"Some people and their machines…" Sonic tisked jokingly, watching as Eggman also went over to his walker, albeit slightly calmer.

"They spent a lot of time working on them; I imagine they mean a lot. Although Tails really shouldn't worry." Emily said loudly and Tails glanced over, grinning sheepishly.

"Um, sorry about that…" He said hesitantly, scratching the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it for now, let's just go already!" Rouge said impatiently and so they did, closing their eyes in relief as they left the place considered in their opinions to be closest to Hell.

Nearing London, they noticed lots of odd little things. Like how there were lots of multicoloured lights and large amounts of holly decorated everywhere. Certainly a lot more than considered healthy for most of the year, apart from near the end when…

"Is it just me or does it look like everyone's getting ready for Christmas?" Sonic said, earning a slight glare from the others. "What?! It does!"

"Well I think that's blindingly obvious. Although I didn't realise so much time had passed, it doesn't seem that long…" Shadow mused on this point while Sammie and Emily shrugged their shoulders, obviously unable to give an explanation.

"It's a bit of a shame really because we haven't got anything yet in the flat. We might still have some time though to get at least some decorations and food." Eggman suggested and Rouge's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, we can still have Christmas! I mean, there won't be any presents but we can still party! We deserve it after everything that's happened to us." She said, as though trying to justify Eggman's idea, not that it was really needed.

"Right, if we're going to this then we'll have to be quick. Me and Sammie will get the drink-" Emily started, suddenly in business mode.

"We will?" Sammie said dumbly, earning a light smack on the arm.

"Yes, we will. Eggman, you can get the tree while Knuckles and Shadow can get the food. Then Sonic and Tails can get the decorations while Rouge and Marie can go round and get some decent music." Emily stopped and coughed loudly. "Not that there's a lack of decent music at your place or anything…"

"Sounds cool." Tails said, seriously considering their shopping list. "Well there's ten of us so we'll need-"

"Tails, you're talking to yourself." Knuckles interrupted and Tails looked down so they wouldn't notice him squeeze his eyes shut in embarrassment before suddenly remembering he was supposed to be piloting a plane (Note from S. Chensu: Yes, I'd conveniently forgotten that little fact too).

"Ok, we'll drop Rouge and Marie off by the flat to look for music and the rest of you at the shopping centre while I get the tree." Eggman said and the when the others nodded in agreement, they sped off towards the flat while Emily sent Gregg a thought telling him what was going to happen.

(Gregg, we're having a party so make sure you dress in your best.) Emily said, imaging the look of disgust on his face at the thought of dressing up.

(Oh great, a party. Whoopee. Remind me to be late.) Came the sour reply and Emily shook her head.

(Less of the sarcasm Gregg please. We'll see you there.) There was a snort from the other end so Emily finished the conversation, grinning evilly at the thought of getting drink and what they could do with it, especially to the others…

Rouge and Marie had got together some good music quite quickly so they spent the rest of the time glamming themselves up i.e. enjoying a proper wash for the first time in a few weeks while they waited for some people to arrive. Soon they were bored enough to clean up the flat too, noticing with slight distaste the amount of dust that had built up.

"The food has arrived!" Knuckles said happily, which was unusual for him as he came in, with Tails following him. Both of them were carrying large amounts of shopping and the girls wondered how they were going to diet for long enough to get rid of it all.

"You went for the full works too. There's enough to last us all for the rest of the holiday here!" Marie said in awe and Tails giggled.

"Well we thought we'd do the week's shopping at the same time…" He explained, placing his bags on the kitchen table, stepping away to let Rouge put it in the right places, not trusting the boys to do it.

"Thanks for…opening the door for me…" They suddenly heard a voice call out and they quickly realised it was Eggman. "Now…if only you could have…helped with this stupid…thing too…" He grunted as a rather large tree entered the flat, legs barely visible beneath it.

"Well you didn't have to get one that was so big you know." Rouge pointed out while Knuckles picked up the lagging trunk that was causing a nice line of dirt to form on the floor. "And you're messing the place up! Me and Marie only just cleaned it up!" She scolded and Eggman threw her an annoyed look.

"Well I'm sorry I'm a bit busy trying to not do my back in!" He snapped as he finally reached a corner of the living room, nearly dumping the tree and setting it straight. "There, that looks good."

"Don't worry Rouge; I'll clean the mess up!" Marie said, her good mood seemingly unbreakable as she set off for the dustpan and brush.

"Just Sonic and Shadow to wait for now. I wonder where they've got to?" Tails asked aloud as they relaxed on the sofas.

"Shadow's probably trying to strangle Sonic with some tinsel by now…" Knuckles muttered to himself, closing his eyes in relief.

"Hey don't think you're finished yet! You haven't washed for ages and you lot too! I think you should have a shower while we're waiting." Rouge snapped and the guys hung their heads before heading off to their rooms.

While they were busy refreshing themselves, Sonic and Shadow came back with decorations. True to Knuckles' thinking, sonic did indeed have tinsel around his neck but it was improbable that Shadow had tried to strangle him with it, instead shaking his head as he watched Sonic in his overly happy mood.

"Decorations for everyone! Let's get them on the tree quick!" He did a flying leap for the tree but was stopped by Rouge who held her hands out.

"I'll do the decorating I think. If I leave it then everything will totally clash."

"But it's supposed to clash…" Sonic said sadly, handing over the bags.

"Well you can put the things up as long as you do as I tell you." Rouge said in her superior tone and Sonic was laid back enough to agree to her words as the first bauble of many was held out to him.

Tails wobbled for a moment on top of Sonic's shoulders and the sway travelled downwards as Tails finally got the golden star on top of the tree. He jumped down, admiring it twinkling in the light when the door burst open and Sammie and Emily came through, several bottles in their hands. Goodness knows how they managed to get it considering they were underage.

"Let's party!" Sammie announced and the others cheered in agreement, helping them with the bottles into the living room. This was going to be /very/ interesting…

S. Chensu: Yay, my bit is finished!

Luff: Now I've got to do the last two episodes and then no more STREKS!

S. Chensu: However, I have been busy thinking about a little reward for all of you faithful reviewers out there.

Luff: Yeah, unfortunately I'm the only one who can do the reward because Chen can't draw to save her life.

S. Chensu: Yeah, she laughed at my last drawing!

Luff: Yes, there are drawings for all of you! Simply e-mail or leave us a signed review with a request and we'll e-mail the pictures I've done of the STREKS (some in school uniform) and Sammie, Emily and their alter egos.

S. Chensu: Now if that isn't an incentive to review, I don't know what is! However, you won't get them until the story is done because then you'll give us lovely long reviews!

Luff: So she hopes…

S. Chensu: So review us to encourage us to get to the end.

Luff: Ironically, the fact that the next episode takes place on Christmas day (when it is being posted too) is a complete coincidence.

Luff: Yes, read it and cheer, the next episode is a present from us to you! So until Saturday…

S. Chensu: Review and enjoy your holidays!


	37. STREKS plus alcohol equals Hilarity

S. Chensu: Well, I don't have much to say this time because Luff wrote this whole episode on her own! Mind you, I did do the last two…

Luff: And I'm completely knackered! Don't ever make me write something like this in two days ever again!

S. Chensu: anyway, onto reviewer replies (reviews have been a bit thin recently…)

**Snow-the-hedgehog**- Thank you for the recommendations, we will check up on the as soon as we can! And don't worry about not reviewing; loads of regulars haven't reviewed for ages! It's because we haven't updated for so long…

**the funk master**- Aw, you poor old thing! Yes, pictures are done (nearly) and we will be sending them out when we post up a last thank you very much chapter with more information on them.

**Yugi and Mai**- When you take the time out to type a long review, could you please at some point MENTION THE STORY? It's not asking much but it is the whole point of reviewing a story. Anyway, thank you for the…conversation you typed instead and we hope you like this chapter. And we want another long review. This time with some reference to the story please.

Luff: Anyway, we don't own anything in this, blah blah blah…

S. Chensu: So enjoy this special Christmas Day episode from us and enjoy yourselves today!

* * *

**Episode 37: STREKS plusAlcohol equals Hilarity**

"Let's party!" Sammie announced and the others cheered in agreement, helping them with the bottles into the living room. This was going to be /very/ interesting…

"What are they?" Tails asked quizzically, pointing to the brightly coloured bottles clasped in their hands.

"Well, they're certainly not for /_you/_ my dear Tails. You're far too young. And you as well, Marie." Emily said, smiling kindly as she said this.

"Oh, no fair! I'm not /_that/ _young!" Tails whined, flopping down onto the sofa.

"Where did you get /_these/_?" Sonic asked, taking one of the Bacardi Breezers, as they turned out to be, from Sammie's laden hands. "You couldn't have bought them on your own…"

"Umm… yeah…"

"Aw, come on! It's Christmas!" Emily said brightly. "We'll just stick these in the kitchen…" And with that they walked off to their destination, being very careful not to drop anything on their way.

The door opened once again, this time to reveal a disgruntled looking Gregg.

"Is this it?" Gregg said, a despising look on his face. "I hate parties…" He tugged off the heavy cloak that swathed his body, which he had evidently used to cover up his lack of a body.

"Gregg!" Sammie and Emily had now returned from the kitchen, and had run up to embrace him in a bone-breaking hug. "It's so good to see you!"

"Ah, who let these two in?!" Gregg said grumpily, pushing them off.

"Hey! That's not nice." Emily sniffed. "You're so mean to us…"

"Yeah!"

"Oh, all right, all right! Just stop whining." He paused, only to realise that a whole room of people was now staring at him. "What?! Whaddisay?"

"Eh-heh, never mind Gregg…" Sammie said nervously, shimmying him over to one of the sofas.

"Hey, I've just suddenly realised! Eggman will be really mad if he sees those bottles in the kitchen…" Sonic suddenly said, now suddenly eyeing the front door suspiciously.

"Quick! Put them in my room before he comes back!" Rouge said, rushing into the kitchen.

"Why?! Where's Eggman gone?" Emily asked with a confused look on her face.

"Oh, he's just doing some last minute food shopping. Tails and Knuckles forgot to get some crackers. And cheese. He was supposed to be back before you came here…" Marie said cutely, who had now sat herself on the sofa next to Tails.

"Ah, now I understand! Right, let's shove these ol' bottles then…" Sammie frog-marched Emily into the kitchen, dragging several other people with her to help.

"Right." Emily counted the amount of bottles they had. "There are… eight bottles." She turned to see who else was in the kitchen. "Right, I'll take two, the rest of you can take one each." She followed Rouge into her bedroom, the others' following behind.

"Tails, you do realise you can't drink any of that, don't you?" Rouge said as Tails shut the door behind him.

"Aww, stop being mean to me! It's Christmas! Can't I just have half?" Tails pleaded, innocently standing near the bed. He clasped the bottle of Bacardi close to his chest.

"I'm sorry Tails…" Rouge said comfortingly, shaking her head. "It's for your own good." Tails pouted and handed the bottle over to her, sinking down onto the bed.

"Right, who has the bottle opener?" Sonic said merrily, looking around as if nothing had happened.

"Sonic! Way to be insensitive…" Knuckles muttered under his breath.

"What?" Sonic looked confused.

"Oh, never mind. Sheesh, he's always totally clueless about everything, isn't he?" Rouge said, who had already opened herself a bottle, which was watermelon-flavoured.

"Yeah…remember how long it took for him to realise that Knuckles and Rouge were going out?" Tails said, getting back into the jovial mood.

"Yeah, even I managed to work it out faster than him, and I wasn't even /_there/_ for most of the time." Shadow was glad to see a slightly irritated look spreading across Sonic's face.

"Shut up." He glowered as he took the bottle-opener and rather violently pinged off the metal lid.

"Are you sure you can handle that, Sonic…?" Shadow asked, his smirk growing wider as he heard him growl.

"Yes, of course I can! I'll show you…" He continued to mutter as he took a huge gulp of drink, almost spitting it back out as it went down the wrong tube. Emily sighed.

"Oh dear."

"Uh-huh." Sammie agreed, sipping at her cherry flavoured Bacardi.

"What about you, Knuckles…?" Rouge sidled over to him, holding a pineapple flavoured Bacardi in her hand.

"I really shouldn't…" He insisted, backing away slightly. "It…um…reacts badly. With...my stomach. Yeah!"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous…" Rouge pulled the lid off before shoving it in his hand. "Drink. Or I won't be very happy…and you know what that means, don't you…?" Knuckles gulped.

"Um…yeah." He sighed, before slowly bringing up to his mouth, looking at it as if it were poison.

"Good boy!" She kissed his cheek, causing him to blush the same colour as his fur. She giggled, pulling his arm around her waist.

"Sonic! You shouldn't drink that so quickly!" Everyone turned to see Shadow standing in front of him, holding a now empty bottle in his hand.

"Hey…hic…I'm okay…hic…" Sonic giggled as he swayed on the spot, reaching blindly for some sort of support.

"Yeah, of /_course/_ you are, Sonic." Shadow rolled his eyes. "See? I told you you couldn't handle your drink."

"I'm hic, not pissed…" Sonic tried to pull a convincing face, but it inevitably didn't work.

"Yep, he's pissed." Sammie said knowledgeably. She swirled her now half-empty bottle, before taking another sip from it. "Lovely."

The rest of the time in the room passed eventfully enough: Rouge managed to down another bottle of drink; she tried to persuade Sammie and Emily to have another one, but they refused, saying that they wanted to remember what happened that evening.

Knuckles only managed to get through half of his drink before he started acting strangely; amazingly, he managed to produce a joke that made everyone laugh. He also seemed incapable of walking in a straight line, falling onto the bed when he tried to get to the door. "Now I can see why he didn't want a drink…" Rouge had muttered to herself, shrugging her shoulders and finishing the rest of her drink.

Eventually Shadow got annoyed with everyone getting tipsy, so he left the room, and to his annoyance the others followed him.

Making himself a drink in the kitchen, he left to go the toilet, little suspecting a conspiracy to spike his drink…

"I can't believe Shadow was _hic_ stupide enough too leave his _hic _driink un _hic_ guarded…" Sonic giggle, tipping out half of Shadow's drink down the sink and filling it up with half a bottle of Bacardi. "Hee hee…"

Shadow came back to find Sonic walking out of the kitchen, giggling his head off about one thing or another. Shadow sighed, before taking hold of his drink and taking a huge gulp. He paused, looking at his drink with confusion. _This drink tastes a bit strange…_ He shrugged and continued to gulp it down. Before long he was on the floor, hiccupping worse than Sonic was and holding his head in his hands.

"Shadow?" He looked up blearily to find a fuzzy-looking Eggman looking curiously down at him, vaguely recognising a hand that was being waved in front of his face. "Have you been drinking?"

"Noooo-/_hic/-_ooo…" He felt himself being pulled to his feet, tight grips clenching on his arms as he was guided into the living room. He vaguely recognised Gregg waving his scythe in front of him, as if threatening him that if he had he would shove it where the sun don't shine. (Sorry, had to stick that in somehow.)

"Right, who did this?" Eggman asked wearily, holding up a limp Shadow in his arms. He raised an eyebrow when all hands were pointed towards Sonic, apart from Sonic who was pointing to something outside the window. "Sonic, what have I told you about drinking?"

"What drink-/_hic/-_ing?" Sonic grinned stupidly, still pointing to the window.

"Oh, never mind!" He dropped Shadow onto the sofa. "Well, seeing as you all seem to be out of your heads drunk…I'll join in too!" He rummaged in his pockets until he found a bottle of whisky. He sat himself in one of the chairs, pressing the bottle to his lips and taking a sip. "Hooo, that's good stuff…" Everyone stared at him as his face turned red, before getting onto what they were doing before.

Sammie and Emily were busy setting up a video camera, planning secretly to catch people in their most embarrassing moments. Or making up plans to force people to do embarrassing things.

Everyone also seemed to be giving Tails and Marie a drink, not realising that everyone else had done so as well. Soon enough they had managed to drink three bottles between them, and were wandering blindly around the living room, Tails singing very rude songs at the top of his voice.

"Hey, who gave them all the booze?" Sammie asked curiously, pointing the camera at Tails as he walked into the wall.

"No idea…" Emily tailed off, watching with amusement as Shadow, Sonic and Gregg joined in with the rude singing.

All was quiet until Tails started singing this one particular song, which he had 'cleverly' adapted from a perfectly innocent Christmas carol…

"I saw Rouge fing Knuckles

Underneath the mistletoe last night

She didn't see me creep

Down the hall to have a peep

She thought that I was tucked up

In my bedroom fast asleep.

"Then, I saw Rouge tickle Knuckles

Underneath his sacks so full and springy

Oh, what a laugh it would have been

If Eggman had only seen

Rouge fing Knuckles last night…"

"TAILS!!" Knuckles shouted as he saw that Rouge looked horrified. "Don't- you-" he yelled as he ran towards him, only for Tails to move out of the way just in time and for /_him/_ to crash into Sonic and Shadow.

Shadow had only just told the Christmas tree that he loved it, before they were all sent careering into its spiky branches. There was lots of shouting as butts got prickly needles stuck up them, causing shouts and screams for about the next five minutes.

"Who turned out the lights?" Sonic mumbled as he tried to see what it was that he had landed on. Still totally clueless.

About twenty minutes later they managed to get themselves upright again, with just about all of the decorations back on the Christmas tree, although now it looked a little…squashed.

Sonic had managed to entertain himself by finding a sprig of mistletoe and forcing Tails and Marie to kiss under it. They had by now sobered up a bit (well, they weren't as hyper anyway), but still they kissed with all the fervour that Knuckles and Rouge were forced to when Sonic came round to them. "Aww, they're so /_hic/_ sweet…" Sonic said cheesily as he goggled at them, freaking them out so much that they had to run away as soon as they were done.

"Oohh, fun!" He giggled as he turned around, only to find Shadow standing right behind him. He stumbled a little as he tried, and failed, to keep his balance. He leaned slightly towards Shadow, a dazed look on his face. Shadow looked up to see that Sonic was still holding the mistletoe above his head.

"What a good idea…" Shadow said happily, before he moved forward and kissed Sonic on the lips. Sonic looked slightly bewildered for a moment, eyeing Shadow suspiciously. Gregg, who just happened to be looking in their direction, retched and rapidly moved as far away from them as possible, muttering under his breath "Disgusting. Hedgehogs…why /_hedgehogs/_?" Sonic stared for a moment, before grinning and saying "Give us a hug…" to which Shadow happily complied.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sammie asked as Gregg sidled over to where they were standing, still muttering to himself.

"Yes, yes…I've seen worse…" He said before continuing his journey around the room. Emily sighed.

"Oh dear. Imagine what it's going to be like when he sees the tape tomorrow morning…"

"If he does." They smiled, before turning their attention back to scanning the room with hawk-like eyes to see if they could catch anymore stupidity on camera.

Everyone in the room paused when Rouge changed the CD in the CD player. There was now cheesy, pop music on. There was a huge groan as they rushed to cover up their ears, but Rouge seemed to have a better idea.

"C'mon, everyone! Let's do the conga!" She grabbed a startled Knuckles from the side of the room, before pulling his arms around her waist and dragging him around the room.

"Hey…that's a good idea!" Tails said, now persuading Marie to join him as they were pushed by Sonic to go to the end of the line.

"Yeah!" Sonic caught Shadow as they made their way around the room, forcing him to hold on for dear life.

"Keep going, guys!" Sammie said gleefully as she pointed the camera at them, hoping to get a least a minutes' worth of video time. "Oi, you join in too!" She said, before pushing Gregg to join in the conga. They were a mess, random legs being stuck out at wrong points in the song. Tails and Marie were being squashed in the middle, struggling even move as they were practically carried around the room. However, this did mean that they could now stick out both of their legs instead of just one at a time, poking Eggman several times on their way around. Several swearwords were issued from his mouth, as he waved frantically to try and push their legs away from him. Let's just say the room was…a bit of a mess afterwards.

"That was fun…" Marie sighed as she struggled to get up off the sofa, which they managed to collapse on just in time to save themselves from falling on the floor. She pushed Sonic's leg off her head, standing up and stretching as if she had only just woken up and got out of bed. She yawned loudly, falling back onto the sofa on top of Shadow.

"Ow…" Shadow groaned, his head dangerously close to…

"Hey, I hope you're not thinking what I think you're thinking!" She giggled, moving slightly so that Shadow could breathe.

"You wish…" he mumbled, sliding off the sofa onto the floor. Marie smiled, before yawning again. "Hey, will someone put the /_kids/_ to bed…"

"We're not kids!" Tails said indignantly, who had also been yawning like mad.

"Don't worry, I'll do it…" Gregg said, before getting his scythe (don't ask) and brandishing it in front of their faces. "Come on! Off to bed with yer! Or I'll chop yer heads off…"

"Gregg!" Sammie said angrily, pushing him away. "Hey, it's okay…" She said soothingly to the now petrified pair of foxes sitting on the sofa.

"Yeah, come on…its ten O'clock now." Emily knelt down in front of them, placing a hand on each of their foreheads. "Now, sleep." They dropped like stones, snoring loudly (well, in Tails' case anyway), so Sammie and Emily gathered them up in their arms and carried them into Tails' room. Gregg followed them in, still brandishing his scythe under their noses. "Will you stop that?!" Emily said, exasperated.

"Oh…" The scythe disappeared with a pop, and he shuffled out of the room, sniffling slightly.

"Tsk…always trying to make us feel sorry for him." Sammie said, before drawing back the bed covers and placing Marie on the bed. Once both of them were settled (in the same bed), Sammie and Emily left them, closing the door quietly behind them.

Knuckles and Rouge had managed to separate themselves from the tangle of people, and were standing in the corner of the room. Knuckles had his arms around her, and she had her head leant against his chest, eyes closed and a smile on her face.

"Aw, don't they look cute together?" Emily whispered, quickly grabbing the camera and focusing it on them. "Perfect…"

"Emily! Sheesh…" Sammie tutted, leaning against the back of one of the sofas. As she said this Rouge looked up at them, eyeing the camera wearily.

"Come on, Knuckles…" She said, before taking his hand and taking him into the bathroom.

"Oh. That was short-lived." Emily sighed as she turned off the camera. "Damn it! Everyone's calming down now. It's no fun." She continued to grumble as she rewound through the footage, deleting any of the bad bits.

Sonic and Shadow had found their way onto the balcony, wanting the fresh, cool air to calm their throbbing headaches. They stared out into the distance, watching as the little lights of the city twinkled in the darkness. The silence remained immanent for a long time, until Shadow cleared his throat.

"It's been so strange, hasn't it?" He said quietly, turning his head slightly to look at Sonic. He sighed.

"Yeah…I guess. I mean, what was the likelihood of all of this happening? And especially to us…it's unlike anything else I've experienced before, and I tell you, I've been through a lot of things in my life."

"Hmm." Silence befell them again. They were content with just being in each others' company; so much had happened to them, they needed each other to reassure themselves of their past, and of their future…

"Why are we brothers, though? I don't understand it…how is it possible? There's almost fifty years difference between us two, and yet…" Sonic paused. "It's not like I don't want it, but you can't help wondering _why_ it has to be. It's the most important question, and yet nobody knows the answer." Sonic frowned.

"Why are you so bothered?" Shadow looked at him. "I'm just happy knowing that you are my brother. At least I have family now…family that's still alive, anyway." Shadow bowed his head as an image of Maria flashed through his mind.

"You miss her, don't you?" Sonic said quietly, sympathy drawn across his face.

"Yeah." A tear ran down his face, a small cry of the pain he was apparently carrying in his heart.

"Hey…" Sonic walked up to him and held him in an embrace, for the first time truly feeling like Shadow's brother. "Don't worry; you're not alone anymore…"

"Hey, Knuckles, are you alright?" Rouge asked as she put bubbles onto his nose. They were in the bath tub, warm water surrounding them as they sat cuddled in each others' arms.

"I…" Knuckles was looking rather pale; apparently the alcohol was finally catching up with him, and he felt like he had the worst headache ever. "My…head…" Was all he managed to say, before he had to stop and clasp it in his hand.

"Ah, don't worry…you'll be okay soon." Rouge said soothingly, rubbing his chest with some scented oil. "Well, in the morning perhaps." _I think he was right when he said 'I don't think I should drink anything'…oh well._ Rouge was silent for a moment, before something sprang to her mind. "Hey Knuckles…do you realise it's been exactly six months since we got together?"

"Hmm…yeah." Knuckles sighed, closing his eyes. "It's been a long time." He opened an eye to look at her. "What are you planning…?"

"Oh, nothing…" But Knuckles saw that certain twinkle in her eye, one that meant that what she was saying was /_definitely/_ not true… "Oh God." was all he managed to say before she had sealed her lips over his, drowning them both in a sense of…well, you know the rest!

"Hey, look!" Emily whispered as she pointed to Eggman. He had half an empty bottle of whisky loosely clenched in his hand, a little string of dribble dangling out of the corner of his mouth. And then there was the snoring, although you wouldn't think it was actually possible for someone to make that much noise without realising it. This caused her to then say, "Do you think he's /_actually/_ asleep?"

"I dunno…" Sammie said, looking at him cautiously. "Do you think it's safe to find out?" She grabbed a stick (again, don't ask) and began to poke him with it, seeing if she was able to get a reaction. She did get one, but that was just him flapping his arm up into the air, with a short grunt to follow. "Have you got the camera?" She asked quietly, but Emily had already run to get it, turning it and giggling as the bottle of whisky finally dropped out of his hand onto the floor.

After a few more moments she turned it off, sighing as she sat down on the sofa. "We're all alone…"

"Yup. Apart from Gregg." He had now come over to join them from the corner of the room, where he had been spying on Sonic and Shadow from the window.

"This is boring." He announced, climbing onto the sofa next to Emily.

"Uh-huh." Sammie felt depressed. "Where did everyone go…?" But no-one gave her an answer.

"Well, that just leaves us to conclude the story, doesn't it?" Sammie looked at Emily.

"Uh?" Then her face lit up. "Oh, right!" She cleared her throat.

"Oh, here we go…" Gregg grumbled, pulling his cloak over his head.

Sammie: The end of the episode…and, as it happens, the end of the story.

Emily: Yup. It's been great fun seeing your reactions as you read this.

Gregg: Emily! You were supposed to say 'it's been great fun taking part in this adventure' or some sort of crap like that!'

Sammie and Emily: Gregg!

Gregg: What?!

Sammie: Oh, it doesn't matter. #Clears throat# Anyway, I'm afraid to say that you will no longer be able to read any more new and exciting adventures of the STREKS gang, as the authoresses have officially retired from writing it. Mainly because now, after writing and working on it for over three years, they are sick to the back teeth of us.

Emily: Yup! It's been _so_ fun tormenting them. Well, we hope that you have enjoyed this final chapter, and apologies for the depressing bit. The authoress (Luff in this case) has a habit of putting a bit in like that in every single chapter of any story that she writes. But she is incredibly good, much better than her sister in fact, because she managed to write this chapter in TWO DAYS. How long did it take Chen? About three months.

Gregg: But she did write the majority of the story.

Emily: Uh…yeah…that's true.

Sammie: Ha! In yer face!

Emily: You're not supposed to take sides!

Sammie: You were first! #They start bitch fighting with each other, disappearing in a ball of dust#

Gregg: Oh, why am I always the one that has to finish everything off? Oh well, time now to kill the story-

Sammie: Oi! Nicely!

Gregg: Shut up! As I was saying, it is time for me to…/_end/ _it. Except it's not quite the end because Luff still has to write an epilogue. And her arm is hurting very badly at the moment. But this is going up on Christmas day! And I am now forced to say "Merry Christmas" to you all…eugh… Well, cheerio, I suppose. #Walks away, muttering something about cats and them being smelly#

* * *

Luff: PLEASE REVIEW AND MAKE THE TOIL I SPPENT ON THIS EPISODE WORTH IT!

S. Chensu: Next episode on…New Year's maybe?

Luff: NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


	38. Epilogue

Luff: Um…well what can I say? Here's the long-awaited epilogue of 'The Adventures of the STREKS gang!' #cheering#

And also, thank you VERY much to these people for reviewing our last chapter: mariachan50, Hana, el knackered one, DorkLotus, Dark Link Yasha, The Ultimate Life Form, Yugi and Mai, Flippenmental, Dragon Master Naya, and Icestar! #huggles to everyone# You guys are so special!

* * *

**Epilogue**

"Good morning everyone!" Emily yelled merrily to the room in general, clearly very happy about something. It could have been because of the video tape she was holding in her hand.

"Shuddup…" Sonic mumbled, turning over from his position on the sofa so he was facing away from her.

"Oh, stop being so grouchy!" Sammie said joyfully, leaping over to the sofa and practically jumping on top of him. "Come on, we have something to show you all!"

"What's all this bloody noise?" Came a grumpy voice from the corner; Gregg had been dozing there in an attempt to get some sleep, but instead he was kept awake by the loud snoring that Sonic had been producing. He had considered trying to cut his head off, but ultimately thought he just didn't have the inspiration, nor the energy to get off his bony butt. Instead he just contented himself with imagining the reaction from the others in the morning when they watched the video they had been recording all the previous evening.

"Gregg? Can you go and wake the others up please?" Sammie smiled sweetly at him, batting her eyelids to add a little more persuasion to her words.

"What are you doing that for?" He asked suspiciously, before growling as he got up from the floor using his scythe. "You know I'm only helping you for the benefit of my own amusement…" He mumbled something under his breath as he walked towards Knuckle's room, and being satisfied, Sammie and Emily turned back to the unsuccessful waking of Sonic.

However, they barely had time to open their moths when a loud '_crash!'_ was heard behind them, which was more than enough to wake Sonic from his slumber. It took a while for them to realise that Sonic had managed to jump up high enough and was now swinging from the light bulb on the ceiling and was clinging on to it for dear life.

Sammie turned around to find Gregg standing in front of an open door, which he had hit so hard with his scythe it had sprung open and crashed against the wall on the other side. In the doorway on the other side stood a bewildered-looking Knuckles, who had luckily moved out of the way of the door just in time to miss it hitting him. A moment later Rouge appeared by his side, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she clung onto Knuckles' arm.

"What's the emergency?" She said groggily as she looked cautiously at Gregg, the scythe in his hands still pointing towards them.

"Time to get up, you lazy beggars." He indicated Emily and Sammie, who had now turned to trying to coax Sonic down from the ceiling, before moving to his next port of call: Eggman.

"Oi, fatty! Wake up!"

"WAAAAAAAARR…!" He bellowed as he sprung to his feet, his eyes wildly looking around the room to find the source of the noise. His eyes were bloodshot, and bags had formed neatly around the edges of them. He was obviously nowhere near recovering from the alcohol yet.

"Over there." Gregg brandished his scythe under Eggman's nose, making him more than happy to comply. He heaved himself onto one of the sofas, shortly followed by Knuckles and Rouge, who looked tentatively at him before perching themselves onto the edge.

After Gregg had roused the other members from their rooms, and carrying both Marie and Tails over to the seating area, he stood below Sonic who was still clinging onto the light bulb and promptly poked him in the backside with his scythe.

"Argh!" Sonic yelled, finally letting go and landing flat on his face on the floor, Gregg having moved out of the way just in time.

"Now why didn't we think of that…?" Emily wondered aloud, before picking _him_ up and dumping him on one of the chairs.

"Right, now that you're all here, we have something to show you all!" The manic glint in Sammie's eye told them that this would not be a good thing. Everyone moved back an inch or two in their seats, as if it would help them to escape what was coming next.

Once Emily had inserted the video into the VHS, she pressed the play button and the torture that was known as 'watching yourself act like an idiot' was unleashed upon them…

xxxxxx

About and hour later everyone was staring wide-eyed at the TV, evidently horrified by what they had seen.

"So, what did you think?" Emily looked happily around the room, only to be met by glares form everyone else. Especially Eggman. For the first time ever, Emily _actually_ looked scared of them. "Um, I guess you didn't like it then…"

"I didn't think it was so bad…" Tails piped up, blushing as everyone's eyes turned to him. "Well, I thought Eggman falling asleep was funny…" It was evident that he was trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Yeah, that was, wasn't it!" Sonic snorted, trying to encourage the others to see the funny side of things.

"I guess…" Shadow agreed, his eyes lighting up.

"Hey! Why you pickin' on me?" Eggman slurred, flailing his arm around as if to wave away the insults.

"I wonder why…" Gregg mumbled sarcastically, receiving a confused look from Eggman.

"If we're lucky, they just might not kill us…" Emily mumbled hopefully to Sammie, who nodded in agreement.

"Yup."

By now everyone was joking about the video, pointing out at least one embarrassing thing that that each person did, although they were afraid to linger on the subject of Eggman in case he decided to go on a murderous rampage.

"Ah, that was great…" Sonic relished the moment of Knuckles swaying around everywhere as he tried to keep his balance. "We should do that to him more often…"

"Hey!" Knuckles looked sulky as he hid his head in his hands, Rouge 'comforting' him to the best of her ability.

"Please you two, get a room!" Shadow growled in annoyance, although still smiling slightly from Sonic's comment.

"We're in a room…" Rouge smiled smugly, before continuing to 'comfort' Knuckles.

Marie sighed in her seat, leaning her head against Tails' shoulder.

"What's wrong, Marie?" He asked, concern in his voice.

"Headache." She mumbled, looking as if she was ready to fall asleep.

"Ah, well you did kinda get fed a lot of alcohol…" Sonic said wisely.

"I think you should rest up Marie…I don't think your parents will be too happy if they find out you've been drinking. Have plenty of water, that should help a little." Emily said kindly, getting up to help Tails carry Marie to his room.

"Well, looks like that's it then…" Sammie sighed mellow-dramatically.

"Good." Gregg said almost happily, slipping off the sofa and walking to the door. "I only came so I could see everyone else making fools of themselves…" They watched him leave, somehow managing to open the door from his height and close it behind him without much difficulty.

"Yep. Typical Gregg. We will teach him to love again…" Sammie said as if she were acting in a play, swinging out her arm as if to emphasise the point.

"Of course. We know he cares really." Emily smiled as she walked in from the bedroom.

"So what happens now then?" Sonic asked, looking to the two girls who were now standing up.

"Well…until next year…I suppose this is goodbye." Sammie said thoughtfully.

"Oh…" Rouge said sadly, standing up so she could hug the two girls. "Thanks for everything you two…you've done so much for us."

Everyone else followed suite, taking their turn to hug Sammie and Emily and say their own goodbyes.

"Say goodbye to Gregg for us, won't you?" Knuckles asked, stepping back from the warm embraces he was receiving.

"Of course." Emily said warmly.

"We will see you again, won't we?" Shadow asked.

"Maybe." Sammie smiled sadly, understanding the looks on the others' faces. "We'll see how things turn out."

"Goodbye then…" Everyone turned to see Marie walking out of the room behind them, taking her turn to embrace the two. "I'll miss you both so very much."

"We'll miss you too…all of you…you've been such great friends to us." Emily smiled as she turned towards the door.

"Until another day then…sayonara…."

* * *

Emily: AT LAST! THE END! #dances around like a loon# Halleluiah, Halleluiah, Halleluiah, Hallelui-ahhhh…

Sammie: I think Luff has actually died with relief.

Emily: Yup.

Luff: Ah! I'm alive! #sings for joy, then turns white as she sees angry mob of people running towards her# Oh crap! I'm sorry! #starts doing a Ritzu# I'M SO SORRY! I APOLOGISE TO THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE! I AM NOT FIT TO BREATHE THE SAME AIR AS EVERYONE ELSE! I ONLY EVER CAUSE PAIN FOR OTHERS! I SHOULD DIE SO I—

Emily: Right, while she's being, gagged, bound and tied to a chair, I will on her behalf apologise to all our loyal readers who have stuck with us through this story. There will be an extra-special thank you note going up soon after this (NOO! NOT MORE!), so we can thank you all properly for your patience. If you haven't died yet from waiting.

Sammie: Eh-hem. I will now read out this apology note that Luff has just written. 'I am very sorry this epilogue is short and not nearly enough for all you people who have been waiting for so long. I have no excuse. Apart from the lack of inspiration. But there are pictures you can have if you ask me in your reviews… #hint hint#' That is all.

Emily: Anyway…I apologise, but S. Chensu cannot be with us at the moment. Maybe this chapter will be re-posted so she can be included…

Sammie: Well, leave a review please. Although Luff really doesn't deserve it…but still. You can just complain at her if you want. #smiles# So yeah…until the note, we'll be seeing ya's!


End file.
